Google's orbital TPU satellite is in space and operating, running Gemini inference on 4 Trillium chips
rohanpaul_ai · x · 2026-10-02
Google has confirmed contact with its first orbital AI-chip test satellite, launched Oct 1, 2026 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-18 from Vandenberg. Key points:
- Compute: 4x Trillium TPUs (Cloud TPU v6e), roughly one data-center server / small TPU slice.
- Workloads: Gemini inference in 15-minute bursts, then shutdown so radiators catch up — no continuous operation on this prototype.
- Cooling: no air/fans in space; heat moves through thermal interface material into aluminum/copper heat pipes, then radiators dump infrared into space.
- Launch loads: sustained 10g acceleration, individual components seeing 50–100g.
- Orbit: dawn-dusk sun-synchronous LEO for near-continuous sunlight on the panels.
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