SpaceX set to send Google AI chips into space for data centers

Alphabet is set to launch its homegrown AI chips into orbit today-a significant step toward making orbital computing in space a reality board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

According to reports, the launch is scheduled for 11:15 am PT from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California’s Santa Barbara County with SpaceX promoting space-based supercomputing as the next technological horizon showcasing boundless orbital territory as a major means of navigating grassroots resistance to land-based data centers.

The new mission is set to fly on SpaceX’s upcoming Transporter-18 rideshare launch in partnership with satellite company Planet Labs will analyze how Google’s AI hardware is built to handle extreme temperatures in low Earth orbit.

Alphabet is a major investor in SpaceX which went public in June in a record IPO and the businesses are close associates even as their AI divisions compete with one another.

Alphabet’s stake in SpaceX is estimated at over $82 billion with industry experts saying space-based data centers represent an unrealistic investment in a far-fetched future concept if they can even become feasible in part because rocket launches remain bottlenecked and high-priced.

Nonetheless, the Transporter-18 flight will be the second potential launch in a single day for SpaceX which is also slated to carry astronauts to the International Space Station from Florida’s Space Coast for NASA signaling the start of a sixth-month mission in orbit.