Google's Project Suncatcher ran Gemma on TPUs in orbit, chips cool in 15-min bursts
shashib · x · 2026-11-02
Google's Project Suncatcher satellite, built with Planet and launched October 1 on a SpaceX rocket, ran Gemma on four solar-powered TPUs in orbit less than a month after launch, returning a haiku to Earth during a pass over Svalbard, Norway. Space lacks air for cooling, so radiators force the chips to run in 15-minute bursts. Google projects launch prices could fall below $200/kg by the mid-2030s, at which point orbital power could compete with data-center electricity on Earth.
Related event: Google's Project Suncatcher Runs Gemma on Space-Based TPU(2 posts)→
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