Google's prototype space data center is online and writing poetry

Key facts

• Google's prototype space data center, Suncatcher, is online.
• The satellite successfully communicated with ground control.
• It wrote a haiku about being in space when prompted.
• The satellite carries a Google Tensor Processing Unit (TPU).
• It generates up to 1 kW of electricity.
• The TPU can only be active for about 20 minutes at a time.

Google's prototype space data center, Suncatcher, has successfully come online and communicated with ground control after launching earlier this month. The satellite, equipped with a Google Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) and capable of generating up to 1 kW of electricity, is designed to test AI inference workloads in orbit. After a three-week commissioning period, engineers prompted the satellite's Gemma 4 model to write a haiku about its existence in space, which it did. The satellite also reported on its orbital conditions, with a spokesperson confirming nominal operations. The project aims to assess TPU performance under thermal stress and space radiation, with plans for two more advanced satellites in 2027.