Oct 31, 2026
Google Project Suncatcher put a TPU in orbit, and its first job was a haiku
Google Project Suncatcher's prototype satellite carries 4 TPUs on about 1 kW. It runs one TPU at a time for about 15-20 minutes per run, and its first downlinked response was a Gemma 4 haiku.
Sir Toastimir
Official footage · Google blog (launch footage courtesy SpaceX)
Google Project Suncatcher, Google's research effort to test AI compute in space, has sent back its first response from orbit: a haiku written by Gemma 4 and downlinked over Svalbard. "Blue marble below / Data streams in silent grace / Starlight feeds my core."
What went up
The prototype satellite launched on October 1 on SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare and was built with Planet. TechCrunch reports it carries 4 TPUs on a power budget of about 1 kW, running one TPU at a time for about 15-20 minutes per run.
Why cooling is the hard part
Space is cold, but there is no air to carry heat away, so a chip cannot be fan-cooled. Heat has to leave through radiators, which is why power and run time are tightly limited on this first prototype.
What comes next
Google says the next steps are thermal-stress and radiation tests, followed by twin interconnected satellites planned for 2027.
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