AI Adoption is Widening, Google Wants to Create a Data Center in Space

November 7, 2025
3:23 PM

Jakarta, domclub Indonesia
—
Google
plans to build a data center in space as early as 2027, following the use of technology
artificial intelligence
(AI) is becoming increasingly widespread.This ambitious project is named Project Suncatcher.
The giant technology company from California, United States hopes to utilize solar power and reduce the cost of launching rockets.The first test equipment is launched into orbit in the near future.
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Google scientists and engineers think that about 80 solar-powered satellites could be arranged in orbit about 400 miles above the Earth’s surface and equipped with high-powered processors to meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence.
Reporting from The Guardian, research released by Google on Tuesday (4/11), the costs of launching into space will decrease rapidly, so that by the mid-2030s the operational costs of space-based data centers will be comparable to those on Earth.
To cool today’s data centers, the use of satellites can minimize the use of land and water resources.
The data center will be equipped with solar panels that can produce energy eight times more efficiently than solar panels once in orbit than solar panels on Earth.However, launching one rocket can produce carbon dioxide emissions of up to hundreds of tons.
Astronomers may oppose this because the increasing number of satellites in low orbit could interfere with their observations of the universe.
In the Suncatcher project, orbiting data centers will send results back via optical links that typically use light or laser beams to transmit information.
Big tech companies chasing AI’s rapid advances are expected to buy land-based data centers everywhere like Lincolnshire to Brazil, and India to Texas.This spending has raised concerns about the impact of carbon emissions if clean energy is not found to power the project.
“In the future, space may be the best place to develop AI computers,” Google said in its research.
“Starting from there, our ambitious research project, Project Suncatcher, envisions a constellation of compact solar-powered satellites, equipped with Google TPUs and connected via free-space optical links. This approach has great potential for scalability, while minimizing the impact on Earth’s resources,” he continued.
Elon Musk, who leads satellite internet provider Starlink and the SpaceX rocket program, last week said his company would begin expanding its operations to build data centers in space.
Nvidia will also launch an AI chip into space at the end of the month, in collaboration with startup Starcloud.
“In space, you get almost unlimited, cheap renewable energy,” said Philip Johnston, one of the startup’s founders.
“The environmental costs incurred are only at launch, but during the operational life of the data center, there will be carbon dioxide savings of up to 10 times compared to operating the data center on land,” he continued.
Google plans to launch two prototype satellites in early 2027 and says its research results represent “the first milestone toward scalable space-based AI.”
(wpj/dmi)
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