Planet to Build and Operate Advanced Space Platform for Google’s Project Suncatcher Moonshot
Planet is pleased to announce our participation in Google's Project Suncatcher, a bold research initiative to explore building scalable machine learning (ML) compute systems in space.
The long-term aim of Project Suncatcher is to enable AI compute to scale by putting Google’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) in space and to harness the near limitless energy of the sun. We are proud to support Project Suncatcher, an effort that aligns with our public benefit purpose to pioneer solutions that help life on Earth — in this case, tapping into the abundant energy available in space.
Planet will leverage its expertise with our agile space missions to deploy two prototype satellites for Google, targeting a launch by early 2027. This mission is designed to test the viability and performance of Google's TPUs in the harsh environment of space, and the ability of two such spacecraft to work in concert, flying in tandem with high bandwidth cross link communications.
In this groundbreaking moonshot with Google, we will bring our history and expertise in rapidly designing, building, and operating sophisticated satellite constellations at large scale to help forge a new frontier for in-orbit infrastructure. Moving beyond data collection and edge compute, toward complex, high-performance computation in space, this program also aligns with Planet’s technology development roadmap for the recently announced Owl mission — leveraging the same satellite bus — and helps accelerate our vision toward space architecture for multi-sensor, real-time insights and Earth intelligence.
Planet believes tackling humanity's most complex challenges requires audacious, new approaches to technology. While Google’s Project Suncatcher is a long-term research initiative, it signals a new era of in-space and AI innovation, and we’re excited for what is ahead.
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