<div class="grid grid-cols-article-mobile md:max-w-[750px] md:grid-cols-article md:max-w-screen-sm" data-article-body="true"><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color"><i>When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.</i></p><figure class="relative col-body mb-4"><div class="relative"><img alt=" An illustration showing a data center in space with various white modules of servers. " loading="lazy" width="960" height="540" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" class="fig-image-round" style="color:transparent" src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/4DQuXEqy3LvyjcRDn5N1fw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/space_311/502e71d263326ef63dac070f7fae047b"><button aria-label="View larger image" class="group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent" data-ylk="elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;"><span class="absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none"><svg viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-hidden="true" class="size-4 lg:size-6" width="22" height="22"><path d="M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z"></path></svg></span></button><dialog aria-label="Modal Dialog" aria-modal="true" class="fixed inset-0 z-[4] size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden"></dialog></div><figcaption class="relative text-[0.875rem]/[1.25rem] figure-caption mt-1 line-clamp-2 pr-2.5"><div>Starcloud is one of the companies looking to create space-based data centers. . | Credit: Starcloud</div></figcaption></figure><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color"><em>This article was originally published at </em><a href="http://theconversation.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:The Conversation.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u><em>The Conversation.</em></u></a><em> The publication contributed the article to Space.com's </em><a href="https://www.space.com/tag/expert-voices" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Expert Voices: Op-Ed &amp; Insights;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u><em>Expert Voices: Op-Ed &amp; Insights</em></u></a><em>. </em></p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">Google recently unveiled Project Suncatcher, a research "moonshot" aiming to build a data centre in space. The tech giant plans to use a constellation of solar-powered satellites which would run on its own TPU chips and transmit data to one another via lasers.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">Google's TPU chips (tensor processing units), which are specially designed for machine learning, are already powering Google's latest AI model, Gemini 3. <a href="https://research.google/blog/exploring-a-space-based-scalable-ai-infrastructure-system-design/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Project Suncatcher;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>Project Suncatcher</u></a> will explore whether they <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.19468" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:can be adapted;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>can be adapted</u></a> to survive radiation and temperature extremes and operate reliably in orbit. It aims to deploy two prototype satellites into <a href="https://www.space.com/low-earth-orbit" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:low Earth orbit,;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>low Earth orbit, </u></a>some 400 miles above the <a href="https://www.space.com/54-earth-history-composition-and-atmosphere.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Earth,;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>Earth,</u></a> in early 2027.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">Google's rivals are also exploring space-based computing. <a href="https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/elon-musk-says-spacex-will-be-doing-data-centers-in-space/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Elon Musk has said;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>Elon Musk has said</u></a> that <a href="https://www.space.com/18853-spacex.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:SpaceX;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>SpaceX</u></a> "will be doing data centers in space", suggesting that the next generation of <a href="https://tech.yahoo.com/science/articles/starlink-satellites-facts-tracking-impact-184050186.html" data-ylk="slk:Starlink satellites;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;" class="link  yahoo-link"><u>Starlink satellites </u></a>could be scaled up to host such processing. Several smaller firms, including a US startup <a href="https://www.starcloud.com/starcloud-2" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:called Starcloud;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>called Starcloud</u></a>, have also announced plans to launch satellites equipped with the GPU chips (graphics processing units) that are used in most AI systems.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">The logic of data centers in space is that they avoid many of the issues with their Earth-based equivalents, particularly around power and cooling. Space systems have a much lower environmental footprint and it’s potentially easier to make them bigger.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">As <a href="https://www.barrons.com/livecoverage/sundayshows1130/card/google-s-pichai-describes-latest-moonshot-harnessing-sun-s-power-EkbeR1Yfak8LMwI3R559" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said</u></a>: "We will send tiny, tiny racks of machines and have them in satellites, test them out, and then start scaling from there … There is no doubt to me that, a decade or so away, we will be viewing it as a more normal way to build data centers."</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">Assuming Google does manage to launch a prototype in 2027, will it simply be a high-stakes technical experiment – or the dawning of a new era?</p><h2 class="heading-mb col-body heading-text-style font-bold charcoal-color">The scale of the challenge</h2><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">I wrote an <a href="https://theconversation.com/data-centres-in-space-theyre-a-brilliant-idea-but-a-herculean-challenge-246635" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:article for The Conversation;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>article for The Conversation</u></a> at the start of 2025 laying out the challenges of putting data centers into space, in which I was cautious about them happening soon.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">Now, of course, Project Suncatcher represents a concrete program rather than just an idea. This clarity, with a defined goal, launch date and hardware, marks a significant shift.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">The satellites' orbits will be "sun synchronous", meaning they’ll always be flying over places at sunset or sunrise so that they can capture sunlight nearly continuously. <a href="https://blog.google/technology/research/google-project-suncatcher/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:According to Google;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>According to Google</u></a>, solar arrays in such orbits can generate significantly more energy per panel than typical installations on Earth because they avoid losing sunlight due to clouds and the atmosphere, as well as night times.</p><figure class="relative col-body mb-4"><div class="relative"><img alt="A view of SpaceX's first 60 Starlink satellites in orbit, still in stacked configuration, with the Earth as a brilliant blue backdrop on May 23, 2019." loading="lazy" width="960" height="540" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" class="fig-image-round" style="color:transparent" src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/DrpHJsoXFdjZm7MqdyHbqQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/space_311/9c9550d4493bf837a49c391258a48bcc"><button aria-label="View larger image" class="group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent" data-ylk="elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;"><span class="absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none"><svg viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-hidden="true" class="size-4 lg:size-6" width="22" height="22"><path d="M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z"></path></svg></span></button><dialog aria-label="Modal Dialog" aria-modal="true" class="fixed inset-0 z-[4] size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden"></dialog></div><figcaption class="relative text-[0.875rem]/[1.25rem] figure-caption mt-1 line-clamp-2 pr-2.5"><div>SpaceX Starlink satellites may not be the only thing orbiting the Earth as data centers enter the picture | Credit: SpaceX</div></figcaption></figure><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">The TPU tests will be fascinating. Whereas hardware designed for space normally requires to be heavily shielded against radiation and extreme temperatures, Google is using the same chips used in its Earth data centers.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">The <a href="https://arstechnica.com/google/2025/11/meet-project-suncatcher-googles-plan-to-put-ai-data-centers-in-space/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:company has already done laboratory tests;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>company has already done laboratory tests</u></a> exposing the chips to radiation from a proton beam that suggest they can tolerate almost three times the dose they'll receive in space. This is very promising, but maintaining a reliable performance for years, amidst <a href="https://www.space.com/12584-worst-solar-storms-sun-flares-history.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:solar storms;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>solar storms</u></a>, debris and temperature swings is a far harder test.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">Another challenge lies in thermal management. On Earth, servers are cooled with air or water. In space, there is no air and no straightforward way to dissipate heat. All heat must be removed through radiators, which often become among the largest and heaviest parts of a spacecraft.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color"><a href="https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20130001608/downloads/20130001608.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Nasa studies show;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>Nasa studies show</u></a> that radiators can account for more than 40% of total power system mass at high power levels. Designing a compact system that can keep dense AI hardware within safe temperatures is one of the most difficult aspects of the Suncatcher concept.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">A space-based data center must also replicate the high bandwidth, low latency network fabric of terrestrial data centers. If Google's proposed laser communication system (optical networking) is going to work at the <a href="https://arstechnica.com/google/2025/11/meet-project-suncatcher-googles-plan-to-put-ai-data-centers-in-space/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:multi-terabit capacity required;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>multi-terabit capacity required</u></a>, there are major engineering hurdles involved.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">These include maintaining the necessary alignment between fast-moving satellites and coping with orbital drift, where satellites move out of their intended orbit. The satellites will also have to sustain reliable ground links back on Earth and overcome weather disruptions. If a <a href="https://tech.yahoo.com/science/articles/axiom-space-launch-1st-orbiting-100000721.html" data-ylk="slk:space data-center;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;" class="link  yahoo-link"><u>space data-center</u></a> is to be viable for the long term, it will be vital that it avoids early failures.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">Maintenance is another unresolved issue. Terrestrial data centers rely on continual hardware servicing and upgrades. In orbit, repairs would require robotic servicing or additional missions, both of which are costly and complex.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">Then there is the uncertainty around economics. Space-based computing becomes viable only at scale, and only if launch costs fall significantly. Google's <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.19468" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:Project Suncatcher paper;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>Project Suncatcher paper</u></a> suggests that launch costs could drop below US$200 (£151) per kilogram by the mid 2030s, <a href="https://www.netizen.page/2025/05/cost-per-kilogram-to-low-earth-orbit.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:seven or eight times cheaper than today;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link "><u>seven or eight times cheaper than today</u></a>. That would put construction costs on par with some equivalent facilities on Earth. But if satellites require early replacement or if radiation shortens their lifespan, the numbers could look quite different.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">In short, a two-satellite test mission by 2027 sounds plausible. It could validate whether TPUs survive radiation and thermal stress, whether solar power is stable and whether the laser communication system performs as expected.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">However, even a successful demonstration would only be the first step. It would not show that large-scale orbital data centers are feasible. Full-scale systems would require solving all the challenges outlined above. If adoption occurs at all, it is likely to unfold over decades.</p><p class="col-body mb-4 leading-7 text-[18px] md:leading-8 break-words min-w-0 charcoal-color">For now, space-based computing remains what Google itself calls it, a moonshot: ambitious and technically demanding, but one that could reshape the future of AI infrastructure, not to mention our relationship with the cosmos around us.</p></div>

Assuming Google does manage to launch a prototype in 2027, will it simply be a high-stakes technical experiment – or the dawning of a new era?

Data centers in space: Will 2027 really be the year AI goes to orbit?

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