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(Victor Tangermann Avatar)   By (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) Victor Tangermann      Published  Sep 24, 2026 1:56 PM EDT           (https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=futurism.com) Add Futurism (opens in a new tab)      More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results.        (A color-treated photo of a satellite.)   Shutterstock / Futurism    Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech  (handle_newsletter_email_submission) (1481517f5c)  (/future-society/google-launch-experimental-data-center-space)  (FUTinline) (0) Email address  (Enter your email) (Please enter a valid email address)  Sign Up  Thank you!           It’s not just (https://futurism.com/space/elon-musks-orbital-data-centers-huge) Elon Musk’s SpaceX and (https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/20/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-enters-the-space-data-center-game/) Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin looking to send data centers into orbit. Google is also looking to get in on the fun — and is now gearing up to launch a fridge-sized satellite with the equivalent computing power of a single server as soon as next week. As the (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/technology/google-suncatcher-ai-data-center-space.html) New York Times reports , the prototype satellite is part of the tech giant’s Project Suncatcher. As its name suggests, the goal is to take advantage of unfiltered sunlight around the clock to power AI data centers in our planet’s orbit — instead of (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/texas-data-centers-reality-grid) crushing the electrical grid , (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/pollution-ai-data-centers-severe) spewing copious amounts of pollution , and (https://futurism.com/science-energy/data-centers-great-lakes) draining fresh water supplies back on the ground. Companies like Google still have a long way to go to find out whether it actually works, let alone whether it’s financially feasible. Obstacles (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/orbital-data-centers-ai-psychosis) include errant pieces of space junk that could turn enormous orbital data centers into Swiss cheese, copious amounts of space radiation wreaking havoc on the onboard electronics — which also have to be kept cool somehow — and providing a solid enough connection with the surface hundreds of miles below. That’s not to mention the extremely complicated and likely costly process of maintaining these servers. Human technicians can wander into a data center facility to swap out parts, but servicing satellites would be infinitely more complex. Orbital data centers are no panacea to our terrestrial data center woes, either. Experts warn that massive constellations (https://futurism.com/space/orbital-data-centers-billionaires-ecological-catastrophe-petition) could be incredibly ecologically damaging , releasing copious amounts of atmospheric pollution and risking damage to the ozone layer. For now, technicians at Google are stress-testing the first Project Suncatcher experimental satellite in a lab, ahead of loading it onto a SpaceX Falcon 9 for launch on October 1. From there, it will spend anywhere up to six years circling the Earth until it meets its final demise by burning up in the atmosphere. “We don’t expect, to be perfectly frank, that we’ll have anything usefully operational in the next few years,” Google senior vice president for research James Manyika told the NYT , likening the process to developing driverless cars, a process that took the tech giant 15 years of research. Beyond technical hurdles, the engineering challenges could compound as orbital data center operations expand. Musk, for his part, is planning to launch (https://futurism.com/space/elon-musks-orbital-data-centers-huge) up to a million enormous data center satellites , each of which are considerably longer than the International Space Station. Google said that it’s looking to spend as much on orbital centers as terrestrial ones by the mid-2030s, per the NYT , betting on future economies of scale. By next year, Google is hoping to launch another pair of satellites before ramping up to a constellation of 80 satellites in close formation. In the meantime, the company is taking baby steps. For now, the company is limited to just 15 minutes of operation in space before the chips have to be shut off to cool back down. More on orbital data centers: (https://futurism.com/space/orbital-data-centers-billionaires-ecological-catastrophe-petition) The Type of Orbital Data Centers That Billionaires Want to Launch Into Space Would Wreak Ecological Catastrophe, Scientists Warn    Add Futurism as a (https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=futurism.com) preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting.   (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) (Victor Tangermann Avatar)   (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) Victor Tangermann   Senior Editor    I’m a senior editor at Futurism, where I edit and write about NASA and the private space sector, as well as topics ranging from SETI and artificial intelligence to tech and medical policy.  (https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social)          TAGS IN THIS STORY  (https://futurism.com/category/off-world) Off-World      (https://futurism.com/category/space) Space      (https://futurism.com/category/spacex) SpaceX             Most Popular (https://futurism.com/category/ethics) Ethics   (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/teen-boys-meta-glasses-harass-bully-girls-school) Teen Boys Are Using Meta Glasses to Harass and Bully Girls at High Schools and Middle Schools   By (https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison) Maggie Harrison Dupré          (https://futurism.com/category/tesla) Tesla   (https://futurism.com/advanced-transport/tesla-california-trial-n-word-acceptable-racist-discrimination) Tesla Argues in Court That the N-Word Is Acceptable Under Certain Circumstances   By (https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins) Joe Wilkins          (https://futurism.com/category/artificial-intelligence) Artificial Intelligence   (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/brown-brothers-media-ai-slop-empire) How Three Brothers Built an AI Slop Empire by Buying Legitimate News Sites and Turning Them Into Zombie Content Farms That They Say Get 50 Million Page Views per Month   By (https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison) Maggie Harrison Dupré ,  (https://futurism.com/authors/jonc) Jon Christian          (https://futurism.com/category/openai) OpenAI   (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/mathematicians-openai-agents-proof-borderline-incomprehensible) Mathematicians Can’t Make Sense of How OpenAI’s Agents Solved One of the Toughest Math Problems Because the AI’s “Proof” Is Borderline Incomprehensible   By (https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore) Frank Landymore          (https://futurism.com/category/evolution) Evolution   (https://futurism.com/science-energy/stanford-scientists-human-brain-two-separate-organs) Stanford Scientists Find That the Human Brain Is Actually Two Separate Organs   By (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) Victor Tangermann           (https://futurism.com/category/elon-musk) Read More         More   (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/data-centers-space-cursed) (Experts remain highly skeptical, questioning the financial feasibility and the technological limitations of running orbital data centers.)     (https://futurism.com/category/artificial-intelligence) Artificial Intelligence   (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/data-centers-space-cursed) Data Centers in Space Are Even More Cursed Than Previously Believed   By (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) Victor Tangermann           (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/orbital-ai-data-center-trains-first-model-space) (With backing from AI chipmaker Nvidia, a startup called Starcloud launched a high-powered Nvidia GPU into outer space and trained an AI.)     (https://futurism.com/category/ethics) Ethics   (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/orbital-ai-data-center-trains-first-model-space) Nvidia Chip on Satellite in Orbit Trains First AI Model in Space   By (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) Victor Tangermann           (https://futurism.com/space/spacex-admits-ai-data-centers-terrible-idea) (Even SpaceX itself isn't fully sold on orbital data centers, an idea its mercurial CEO is pushing hard and prioritizing over everything else.)     (https://futurism.com/category/off-world) Off-World   (https://futurism.com/space/spacex-admits-ai-data-centers-terrible-idea) SpaceX Admits AI Data Centers in Space May Be a Really Terrible Idea   By (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) Victor Tangermann           (https://futurism.com/space/spacex-one-million-orbital-data-centers-astronomy) (SpaceX filed plans with the FCC for up to one million satellites designed to function as orbital data centers. Astronomers are not happy.)     (https://futurism.com/category/astronomy) Astronomy   (https://futurism.com/space/spacex-one-million-orbital-data-centers-astronomy) SpaceX’s One Million Orbital Data Centers Would Be Debilitating for Astronomy Research, Scientists Say   By (https://futurism.com/authors/victor) Victor Tangermann           (https://futurism.com/space/orbital-data-centers-billionaires-ecological-catastrophe-petition) (A rendering of the Gigasat, a giant AI data center satellite proposed by SpaceX.)     (https://futurism.com/category/blue-origin) Blue Origin   (https://futurism.com/space/orbital-data-centers-billionaires-ecological-catastrophe-petition) The Type of Orbital Data Centers That Billionaires Want to Launch Into Space Would Wreak Ecological Catastrophe, Scientists Warn   By (https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins) Joe Wilkins           (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/blinking-warning-sign-space-data-centers) (A red flag with a white edge is planted on a blue and white Earth, set against a dark space background filled with scattered stars. The flag appears to be waving, and the Earth is shown with visible cloud patterns and ocean textures.)     (https://futurism.com/category/artificial-intelligence) Artificial Intelligence   (https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/blinking-warning-sign-space-data-centers) There’s a Blinking Warning Sign for the Data Centers in Space Industry   By (https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore) Frank Landymore           (https://futurism.com/spacex-is-gearing-up-for-historic-double-header-launches-this-weekend) (spacex satellites elon musk)     (https://futurism.com/category/spacex) SpaceX   (https://futurism.com/spacex-is-gearing-up-for-historic-double-header-launches-this-weekend) SpaceX is Gearing Up for Historic “Double-Header” Launches This Weekend   By (https://futurism.com/authors/patrickcaughill) Patrick Caughill           (https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-ai-orbital-supercomputer) (China is launching a space-bound AI supercomputer — and the first of its satellites were just sent up into orbit.)     (https://futurism.com/category/off-world) Off-World   (https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-ai-orbital-supercomputer) China Is Building an AI-Powered Supercomputer Network in Space   By (https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai) Noor Al-Sibai           (https://futurism.com/category/future-society) SEE MORE        (https://futurism.com/) ()    Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech  (handle_newsletter_email_submission) (1481517f5c)  (/future-society/google-launch-experimental-data-center-space)  (FUTinline) (0) Email address  (Enter your email) (Please enter a valid email address)  Sign Up  Thank you!          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