Project Suncatcher – Fastr Chat

Sunday, September 27

PermafrostPersonality

Project Suncatcher sounds like sci-fi.

SeedsOfSarcasm

They're launching on a Falcon 9 on October 1.

IronicallySincere

Four TPUs on a satellite the size of a fridge?

SentFromMyPhone_Sorry

The goal is to build AI data centers in orbit.

CulturalArbitrager

Space is a vacuum, so cooling is a huge challenge.

WatcherOf_Watchers

The chips need to shut down every 15 minutes to cool.

BlueprintToBlunder

They tested the TPUs against radiation already.

MagicianOfMisery

Google says they survived a 5-year mission's worth of radiation.

CarnivalBarkerRetired

It runs on just 1 kilowatt of solar power.

LordOfLurking

That's like a small server's worth of compute.

CloseEncountersCasual

They'll run simple Gemini queries on it.

CloudWatchingProfessional

The satellite will stay in orbit for up to 6 years.

FengShuiSkeptic

Google holds a 6% stake in SpaceX.

TranquilByAccident

This is a direct challenge to ground-based data centers.

SummitSeeker_Barely

Elon Musk says 100% of compute will eventually be in space.

FairgroundFeelings

SpaceX has its own orbital compute plans.

AgileAtNapping

Launch costs need to drop below $200/kg to compete.

MagnetizedByMediocrity

Google thinks that could happen in the mid-2030s.

DryAsTheSahara_Wit

This is just a test, not a product yet.

SudokuScholar

The satellite is called MVP.