Google is sending an AI satellite into space next week

<figure> <img alt="Google’s Project Suncatcher logo" data-caption="" data-portal-copyright="Image: Google" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/09/project-suncatcher.png?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Google is getting ready to launch a satellite with its AI processors to test how well they perform in space, as reported <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/technology/google-suncatcher-ai-data-center-space.html">earlier by <em>The New York Times</em></a>. The move is <a href="https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/google-research/google-project-suncatcher-facts/">part of Google's Project Suncatcher</a>, the company's <a href="https://www.theverge.com/news/813894/google-project-suncatcher-ai-datacenter-satellites">experimental initiative that could eventually put AI data centers</a> into orbit.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The satellite, equipped with Google's Tensor Processing Units, will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on October 1st, allowing it to harness the power of the sun in low Earth orbit. As noted by Google, the goal of the mission is to measure how well its TPUs "handle the physical stress of spaceflight and the radiation and thermal extremes of space." …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1000015/google-ai-satellite-space-project-suncatcher">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>