Google, in alliance with the company Planet, hopes to launch its first couple of solar-powered satellite prototypes for Project Suncatcher by 2027.
The market is being driven distraught- is the AI bubble finally going to burst? And amidst this frenzy, maybe, just maybe, there’s an answer to all the speculations regarding AI’s true potential.
Since its escalating adoption, the world assumed that we might never decode the modern tech’s maximum potential in our lifetime. Well, we were wrong to presume that.
As the AI race unfolds right in front of us, we are left dumbstruck by Google’s moonshot plan. And while it sounds like the normal next step, it truly is a fascinating step towards opening new avenues for AI-led innovation. And gauge- is sky truly the limit for artificial intelligence?
Google’s Project Suncatcher is understood to be a moonshot research project. The crux? It’s taking AI to space. And honestly, the whole antic sounds exciting on the surface.
The success of this project could push companies to scale ML in space. And this would be powered by the most substantial energy source, our Sun. So, basically, the research project plans to assess whether a constellation of solar power-backed satellites, equipped with Google’s TPUs, can be connected by free-space optical links.
Google calls it the “future space-based, highly scalable future AI infrastructure design.”
And it’s already taking baby steps toward transforming this project into a reality. The first is creating modular designs for the small, interconnected satellites.
If the tech powerhouse figures this out, there’s a bright road ahead. A future where AI relies less on terrestrial resources. And more on the never-ending energy backup- solar power. These models would continuously churn out electricity. And facilitate eight times the productivity of current data centers.
However, there’s more to the story.
The resource-hungry data centers built on space? Could this be what the world needs right now?
Yes. If this is the missing puzzle piece to binding AI and sustainability.
These space-based AI data centers could harness the Sun’s clean energy around the clock. It could dispel the havoc created by the earth-bound data centers.
They’re thirsty for freshwater (but not for salt water, because wouldn’t that make things easier?). They’re driving up the utility bills. And a magnanimous demand for electricity in the surrounding areas.
On Earth, AI and sustainability can’t work in tandem. At least, not yet.
In response, Google’s Senior Director for Paradigms of Intelligence asserts, “In the future, space may be the best place to scale AI compute.”
But for now, Project Suncatcher remains an ambitious research project.
