Google’s October 1, 2026 launch of its Project Suncatcher prototype satellite—carrying four Tensor Processing Units aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9—marks the latest step in testing radiation-hardened AI chips for orbital use, following Starcloud’s 2025 demonstration of an Nvidia H100 training a large language model in low-Earth orbit. These remain early experiments with far fewer than the 100 data-center-grade accelerators required to qualify as a full orbital data center under market rules. Major players including SpaceX, Starcloud, and Google are targeting scaled deployments with laser-linked satellite clusters starting in 2027, driven by abundant solar power and terrestrial energy constraints, though technical hurdles around thermal management, networking, and launch economics keep near-term odds modest.