Prelims: Current events of national and international importance | Science and Technology
Why in News?
Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai has unveiled Project Suncatcher, recently.
Aim -To build a scalable compute network in orbit that could one day supplement or replace some terrestrial data-centres, especially for AI workloads.
Initiative by -Google LLC.
Objective -To process AI workloads in space, reducing the environmental footprint of terrestrial data centres while benefiting from uninterrupted solar exposure.
Computer Hardware -The project envisions constellations of satellites equipped with Google’s custom Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) for machine-learning workloads.
These satellites will be solar-powered, leveraging near-constant sunlight in certain orbits to generate large amounts of electricity.
As part of the project, Google plans to deploy specialized AI chips on solar-powered satellites in low-Earth orbit.
Orbit & Energy -The satellites would use an orbit such as a dawn–dusk sun-synchronous low-Earth orbit (LEO) to maximize sunlight exposure, enabling solar panels to be “up to 8 times more productive than on Earth”.
Networking -The idea includes linking satellites via free-space optical inter-satellite links (optical communication, lasers) at tens of terabits per second, so that the constellation forms a high-performance compute cluster in orbit.
Prototype mission -Google plans to launch two prototype satellites (in partnership with Planet Labs PBC) by early 2027 to test key systems (hardware in space, power, comms).
Cluster size concept -One scenario described is an array of ~81 satellites within ~1 km radius orbiting as a cluster, forming a compute fabric.
Potential advantages
Energy productivity - In space, solar panels can operate with less interruption (no night/day cycle in certain orbits, less atmospheric attenuation) so more usable power for compute.
Scalability & density - It may avoid Earth-based constraints (land, cooling, local power infrastructure) when building enormous AI compute farms.
Reduced terrestrial constraints - Data centres on Earth have to deal with power, cooling, environmental impact, local regulation.
