Google has launched its first AI chips into orbit. A prototype satellite carrying four Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) lifted off on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission from California’s Vandenberg base on October 1. Google says it has made contact and the satellite is “operating as expected.”

The project, called Suncatcher, is a year-long experiment, not a working data centre. Google wants to learn whether its AI chips can survive launch stress, radiation and the temperature extremes of orbit.

Heat is the biggest problem. In space there is no air to carry heat away, so the satellite uses heat pipes and radiators. The chips can only run in short bursts of about 15 to 20 minutes before they need to cool down.

Why space? Google estimates solar panels in orbit can produce up to eight times the energy of panels on Earth. Space-based AI could one day ease the pressure on land, electricity and water from Earth-bound data centres.

SpaceX and Blue Origin are planning similar projects, but Google is the first to fly commercial AI chips in space.