Our Project Suncatcher prototype satellite is in orbit

Google launched a prototype satellite for Project Suncatcher on Oct 1, 2026, in partnership with Planet aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare. The team established contact and reports the craft is functioning as expected. The mission is the first step in a long-term research moonshot to determine whether space can host scalable machine-learning infrastructure. In-orbit operations over the coming weeks will collect telemetry and performance data as the hardware endures launch stresses and the space environment.

The satellite carries Google-designed TPUs and other systems to test tolerance to radiation, thermal extremes, and the mechanical loads of spaceflight, with results intended to inform iterative design improvements for future deployments. A peer-reviewed paper in Joule documents the research background and engineering approach behind the mission. Data returned from these experiments will guide whether and how compute platforms can be architected for orbital deployment, with implications for latency, resilience, and new uses of off-Earth compute infrastructure.