Google will launch its first AI chips into orbit next week

Google will launch a prototype satellite with Tensor Processing Units on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 mission next week. The satellite, built with Planet, will test TPU performance under 50–100 g launch forces, space radiation, and extreme temperatures using heat pipes and radiators. Ground vibration and proton-beam tests already confirmed chip resilience. The flight precedes a 2027 mission to evaluate laser links for satellite TPU clusters.