Alphabet-owned Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) on Tuesday said it has begun the foundational work for “Project Suncatcher,” the tech giant’s latest and most ambitious initiative to scale machine learning in space.
Google said it is exploring how it could harness “the full power of the Sun” by utilizing a constellation of solar-powered satellites equipped with the company’s tensor processing unit AI chips.
The company said it has shared, in a preprint research paper, its approach to satellite constellation design, control, and communication, and also its initial learnings from radiation testing its TPUs.
Google has partnered with Planet Labs, an AI startup that offers detailed insights about Earth via satellite monitoring, to launch two prototype satellites by early 2027 that will test its hardware in orbit.