# Google's Project Suncatcher will test whether TPUs can operate in orbit

DevFeed: [Google's Project Suncatcher will test whether TPUs can operate in orbit](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/elon-musk-says-space-will-soon-hold-nearly-all-compute-google-is-still-finding-out-if-its-chips-can-work-there-61396.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://thenewstack.io/google-suncatcher-tpu-satellite/>)

Author: Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Published: 2026-09-28T16:22:00Z

Content type: news

Language: en

Sources: [The New Stack](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/the-new-stack.md>)

Topics: [AI Infrastructure](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai-infrastructure.md>), [NVIDIA Vera Rubin](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/nvidia-vera-rubin.md>), [NVIDIA DRIVE](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/nvidia-drive.md>)

Tags: [ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai.md>), [ai-data-centers](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai-data-centers.md>), [ai-infrastructure](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai-infrastructure.md>), [all](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/all.md>), [carnegie-mellon](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/carnegie-mellon.md>), [carnegie-mellon-university](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/carnegie-mellon-university.md>), [cooling](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cooling.md>), [elon-musk](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/elon-musk.md>), [hardware](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/hardware.md>), [infrastructure](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/infrastructure.md>), [new-york](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/new-york.md>), [new-york-times](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/new-york-times.md>), [nvidia](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/nvidia.md>), [project-suncatcher](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/project-suncatcher.md>), [radiation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/radiation.md>), [research](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/research.md>), [vera-rubin](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/vera-rubin.md>)

## AI overview

Google's Project Suncatcher will send a prototype satellite carrying four Tensor Processing Units into orbit to test whether machine-learning infrastructure can operate in space. The research will examine challenges including radiation, cooling, and launch stresses, while exploring whether solar-powered satellites connected by optical links could support large-scale workloads.

## Source excerpt

While SpaceX and Nvidia plan to place a space-optimized Vera Rubin AI system in orbit by late 2027, Google's far The post Elon Musk says space will soon hold nearly all compute. Google is still finding out if its chips can work there. appeared first on The New Stack.