Google’s first test satellite for Project Suncatcher is working and sending messages to Earth. It went into space in October on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The project could put centres full of computers in space to run artificial intelligence, or AI.
Engineers checked the satellite’s systems for about three weeks. Then they asked its AI model, Gemma 4, to write a short poem about space. The model wrote the poem and sent its answer to Earth. Google also asked it for information about conditions around the satellite.
The satellite carries four special computer chips for AI work. However, it does not have enough power to use them all together. It can use only one chip for about 20 minutes at a time.
Google will now test how the chips work in heat and under radiation, a form of energy in space. Radiation can change information in computer memory and cause errors. If the chips work well, Google plans to send two more satellites in 2027. These will produce more electricity and test connections that use light to send information between them.
