Google schedules first Project Suncatcher satellite for October 1 launch

The flight will put AI hardware in orbit for a real-world test, but a useful operational system remains years away.

Updated 28 September 2026

Google plans to launch MVP, the first Project Suncatcher satellite, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 on October 1 to test AI hardware in orbit. It will carry four Tensor Processing Units, with roughly the computing capacity of a single data-center server. Ground tests found that Trillium TPUs could withstand more radiation than they would receive over a five-year space mission, but the orbital test will provide data that simulations cannot. The chips may need to be shut down after about 15 minutes of operation to cool. Google plans to put two satellites in orbit in 2027 to test laser links, while senior vice president James Manyika says a useful operational system is not expected in the next few years.