The NewYorkTimes.com reported that “Next Thursday, Google is sending an experimental satellite into orbit that will have enough computing power to answer simple A.I. queries from space.” The September 24, 2026 article entitled “Google Takes the A.I. Data Center Race to Outer Space” (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/technology/google-suncatcher-ai-data-center-space.html) included these comments from Reporters Kate Conger and Cade Metz:
At a lab in San Francisco last month, a team of technicians in protective suits and hairnets poked, prodded and inspected a refrigerator-size satellite commissioned by Google.
First, they examined the satellite’s solar panels, which would unfurl in space and face the sun. The satellite was then placed on a table and shaken rapidly in a vibration test, to see whether the chips inside would be damaged or the machine would come apart during a journey into space. The technicians painstakingly painted a small line over each screw to help indicate any loosening during the shaking.
The satellite passed the vibration test, with its screws staying put and the chips remaining intact. James Manyika, Google’s senior vice president for research, called the results “great,” but he said he still wondered what would happen when the satellite went to space.
The work was part of an ambitious effort from Google called Project Suncatcher, which aims to put artificial intelligence data centers into space and to harness the sun’s energy to power them. On Oct. 1, the satellite from the San Francisco lab — which Google has named MVP — is set to become the first step toward that goal by a major tech company. It will be loaded onto a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at the Vandenberg Space Force Base near Santa Barbara, Calif., and then launched into orbit.
Google provided The New York Times with the first inside look at the project, which seemed like a science-fiction dream just a year ago.
Not a surprise at all!
First published at https://www.vogelitlaw.com/blog/ai-data-center-race-moving-to-outer-space