Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Google sent a small satellite into space on Thursday. It rode on a rocket from SpaceX.
The satellite has four special computer chips. They are made for AI. Google wants to see if the chips can work in space.
In space, the sun shines almost all the time. One day, computers in space may use this free power.
- satellite
- a machine that goes around the Earth
- rocket
- a vehicle that flies into space
- chip
- a tiny part inside a computer
- space
- the place above the Earth
- power
- energy to make machines work
- sun
- the star that gives us light
- test
- to check if something works
- free
- costing no money
Level 2 — Elementary
On October 1, a SpaceX rocket launched a small test satellite for Google. It left Earth at about 2:32 in the afternoon, Eastern time. The project is called Project Suncatcher.
The satellite carries four Google chips called TPUs. Google uses TPUs to train and run its AI. The company built the satellite with a space company called Planet Labs.
Why put AI chips in space? Satellites in the right orbit get sunlight almost all the time, so they could make a lot of power. They could also talk to each other with lasers. Google plans to send two more test satellites in 2027.
- launch
- to send a rocket into the sky
- orbit
- the path of an object around the Earth
- TPU
- a Google chip made for AI work
- experiment
- a test to learn something new
- laser
- a very thin and strong beam of light
- data center
- a building full of computers
- sunlight
- light from the sun
- project
- a planned piece of work
Level 3 — Intermediate
On October 1, at about 2:32 p.m. Eastern time, a SpaceX rocket lifted an experimental satellite carrying four of Google's Tensor Processing Units into low Earth orbit. The mission, part of Project Suncatcher, was developed with the aerospace company Planet Labs.
The immediate goal is modest: to learn how the chips survive the shaking of launch and the harsh conditions of space, including radiation. The long term idea is far bigger. Google imagines fleets of satellites packed with AI chips, powered by near constant sunlight and linked to each other by lasers, working together as a data center above the planet.
The appeal is easy to understand. AI data centers on Earth consume huge amounts of electricity and land. Moving some of that work into orbit could ease the strain, though engineers still have to prove that the hardware can last and that the economics work. Google plans to launch two more experimental satellites in 2027 to test laser links between them.
- experimental
- used to test a new idea
- radiation
- energy that can damage electronics
- fleet
- a group of vehicles operating together
- near constant
- almost never stopping
- consume
- to use up
- ease
- to make less severe
- strain
- pressure on a system
- economics
- the costs and benefits of an idea
Level 4 — Advanced
At about 2:32 p.m. Eastern time on October 1, a SpaceX rocket carried an experimental satellite into low Earth orbit with four of Google's Tensor Processing Units aboard. Built with Planet Labs, the spacecraft is the first tangible step of Project Suncatcher, a research moonshot Google announced last year.
Its immediate remit is deliberately modest: to establish how silicon designed for terrestrial server halls withstands the vibration of launch and the unforgiving environment of orbit. The ambition behind it is anything but. Google envisions constellations of satellites, bathed in near continuous sunlight and stitched together by laser links, that would train and run AI models far above the planet.
The logic is seductive. Terrestrial data centers devour electricity, land and cooling water, and the appetite of AI shows no sign of fading. Orbit offers abundant solar energy and, in principle, relief from those constraints. Yet the obstacles are formidable, from radiation damage and heat dissipation to the sheer expense of launching hardware, and the economics remain unproven. Two further experimental satellites are slated for 2027 to test inter-satellite laser communication, and the results will show whether the idea is visionary or merely expensive.
- tangible
- real and able to be seen or measured
- moonshot
- an extremely ambitious project
- remit
- the scope of a task
- terrestrial
- relating to the Earth
- constellation
- a group of related objects, such as satellites
- seductive
- attractive and tempting
- formidable
- very difficult to overcome
- dissipation
- the spreading out and loss of energy such as heat
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