Google Project Suncatcher 原型卫星首次在轨完成 TPU AI 推理
We’ve received our first response from the Project Suncatcher prototype satellite.
Google 宣布 Project Suncatcher 原型卫星首次在轨用数据中心级 TPU 完成 AI 推理，向星上搭载的 Gemma 4 开放模型上传提示词并成功下传生成的俳句。该卫星于 10 月 1 日发射，此前已完成主机与 TPU 托盘上电及早期机器学习测试。接下来将测试 TPU 在热应力和辐射暴露下的表现，并指向 2027 年双星互联的下一里程碑。
Google 披露 Project Suncatcher 原型卫星首次在轨跑通 TPU 推理，读者可了解太空算力验证的当前进度与后续测试方向。
On October 1, we launched our prototype satellite for Project Suncatcher. The launch marked the first step in our long-term research moonshot to explore powering AI compute in space. Since then, we've spent the last few weeks completing our commissioning checklist, which included powering up the host and TPU trays and successfully running early machine learning tests. This week, we reached our "Hello World" milestone: the first-ever AI response from a data center class TPU in orbit.
During a ground-station pass, we uplinked our first prompt to our onboard Gemma 4 open model, asking it to generate a haiku about being in space. As the satellite passed by Svalbard, Norway, the downlinked poem confirmed success:
Blue marble below
Data streams in silent grace
Starlight feeds my core. ✨
Following this initial output, we tested space-themed limericks and telemetry prompts reporting the technical status of the payload systems. Next, we will continue with a series of tests to evaluate how TPUs perform under thermal stress and radiation exposure in orbit. Verifying our TPUs can reliably execute workloads in space paves the way for our next milestone of twin interconnected satellites in 2027.
Our chips have officially earned their space wings — an important achievement on the long road ahead for this cosmic moonshot.
来源：Google · blog.google