Google's Project Suncatcher satellite runs Gemma 4 AI in space

Google's test is a small but concrete step in its experimental push to move AI computing off Earth. By booting up the satellite's Tensor Processing Units and running the Gemma 4 model on a prompt, Google showed that its custom AI chips can operate in orbit. The company says it also tried other space-themed limericks and telemetry prompts, suggesting it is testing a range of workloads rather than a single demo.

The test is part of Project Suncatcher, which Google describes as an experimental initiative that could eventually put AI data centers in space. The company launched the satellite into orbit earlier this month. Google now plans a series of tests to evaluate how TPUs perform under thermal stress and radiation exposure in orbit, and it says verifying that the chips can reliably execute workloads in space paves the way for its next milestone of twin interconnected satellites in 2027. Whether those steps lead to actual space-based data centers remains an open question, but the successful boot-up gives Google a data point to build on.