Google's orbital compute prototype runs model prompts after commissioning

Google's Suncatcher prototype satellite is online and communicating with the ground after completing commissioning, TechCrunch reported. Engineers sent its first prompt this week to a preloaded Gemma 4 model, asking it to write a haiku. Google also asked the spacecraft to report surrounding orbital conditions. The satellite carries four Tensor Processing Units and generates up to 1 kW of electricity, but can operate only one chip for about twenty minutes at a time. The test campaign will examine chip performance under thermal stress and space radiation. If the chips prove capable, Google plans two more satellites in 2027 to demonstrate higher power generation and optical links between spacecraft.