# Google launches satellite prototype to test AI chips in orbit

_Published Friday, October 2, 2026 at 5:40 PM EDT · Science, Infrastructure, AI · Latest · Tier 2 — Notable_

![Google launches satellite prototype to test AI chips in orbit — Primary](https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-uniblog-publish-prod/original_videos/wagtailvideo-fgyv69rc_thumb.jpg)

Google says its Project Suncatcher prototype satellite launched Friday aboard SpaceX's Transporter-18 mission. Built with Planet, the satellite has established contact and is operating as expected, the company said.

The mission will gather data over the coming weeks on how Google's TPU chips withstand spaceflight stress, radiation and thermal extremes. It is an initial experiment in whether space could host scalable machine learning infrastructure. Google also said the mission's research paper is now available in Joule.

## Sources

- [blog.google](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/google-research/project-suncatcher-prototype/)

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Canonical: https://techandbusiness.org/newswire/0dHhLenNxHNmXMg3BrgI2v
Published: 2026-10-02T21:40:57.607Z
Story chronology: 2026-10-02T11:13:02.000Z
Retrieved: 2026-10-02T23:39:22.392Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)