Google to Launch AI Chip Satellite on SpaceX Rocket

Google will launch its first experimental orbital data center satellite on October 1, 2026, as part of Project Suncatcher. The refrigerator-sized MVP carries four custom Tensor Processing Units and will ride a SpaceX Falcon 9. Radiation and vibration tests passed, but cooling limits TPUs to 15-minute runs. Two satellites will test laser links in 2027.