Google Plans To Launch Mini Data Center Into Space Next Week As Part Of Project Suncatcher’s Bid For A Market Projected To Hit $28.16 Billion
Google is about to launch a refrigerator-sized data center into orbit, but its own engineers admit it will be years before the technology is remotely useful. So why launch it at all?
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Google’s first orbital data center will fit in a kitchen. Ars Technica reports that the first Project Suncatcher test satellite, dubbed MVP and about the size of a refrigerator, launches October 1. Inside, per Ars Technica, sit four of the custom TPU accelerators that Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL | GOOGL Price Prediction) uses in servers on the ground.
Ars Technica, citing the New York Times, says the solar panels supply only about one kilowatt, enough by Ars Technica’s description to run a microwave or a hair dryer. Google will run Gemini models on the chips, Ars Technica reports, but only in bursts of about 15 minutes before they shut down so the radiators can catch up. The satellite will operate for just a few months, according to Ars Technica.
Borrowed Hardware Shows Where Suncatcher Really Stands
Ars Technica reports that the spacecraft comes from Planet Labs (NYSE:PL), a satellite imagery company, and that Google integrated its chips into a satellite Planet Labs had already built. The original plan, per Ars Technica, called for two custom satellites in 2027, launches still on the agenda, but Google wanted to move faster. Ars Technica says the test rides the Transporter-18 rideshare aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9. It leaves from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Elon Musk’s rocket.
Why Space Makes Cooling Harder
Space is cold, yet releasing heat there is harder than on Earth because there is no air to carry it away, and Ars Technica notes cooling may be the biggest issue, as space radiators are designed for small heat loads while AI accelerators generate far more. Google’s fix, per Ars Technica, uses a soft thermal interface material linking the chips to aluminum and copper heat pipes that feed a radiator. Ars Technica adds that the chips lack radiation protection, so radiation can damage them or flip bits and corrupt calculations.
Local Power Fights Push Computing Toward Orbit
Data centers use 4% to 5% of US electricity today, according to the Electric Power Research Institute, which projects as much as 17% by 2030. Ars Technica describes orbital data centers as an alternative to terrestrial facilities that have become controversial, citing rural communities opposing construction. That electricity crunch is exactly why the power, cooling, and networking suppliers behind the AI expansion keep drawing investor attention. We featured seven of them in a free report here. Orbit offers free cooling, abundant solar and no zoning battles, with panels generating up to 8 times more power than on Earth. Google’s research sketches 81 satellites flying within roughly a one kilometre radius at about 650 kilometres altitude, a configuration Google calls a theoretical target.
Market Forecasts Disagree Wildly
MarketsandMarkets projects the space-based data center market at $28.16 billion by 2040, from $0.11 billion in 2026, a compound annual growth rate of 18.3%. That figure is the most aggressive of three and represents one firm’s estimate. Google has set no such target, and no consensus exists. Fortune Business Insights projects $3.81 billion by 2034. GlobeMarketResearch projects $8.4 billion by 2035. Forecasts for a market that barely exists are guesses dressed in decimal points.
Rivals are moving too. Starcloud, formerly Lumen Orbit, launched a test satellite in December 2025 and raised a $170 million Series A this year. SpaceX and Blue Origin have their own proposals.
Skeptics Include Google Itself
A Gartner analyst called orbital data centers pie-in-the-sky in February 2026. Carnegie Mellon’s Brandon Lucia said scaling the technology will take years and enormous funds, according to Ars Technica. Google’s own team, Ars Technica reports, expects it will be years before Suncatcher moves from project to product. Google senior vice president James Manyika was blunter. “We don’t expect, to be perfectly frank, that we’ll have anything usefully operational in the next few years.”, according to Ars Technica.
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AJ spent 10 years writing about financial markets at The Motley Fool. His coverage centers on technology stocks and the broader macroeconomic trends, from interest rates to geopolitics, that shape where markets are headed next. AJ is drawn to the stories where big-picture economics and individual companies collide.
