Google is planning to take its data centers to space. CEO Sundar Pichai revealed in a recent Fox News interview that the tech giant will begin work on Project Suncatcher, an initiative aimed at using solar power more efficiently to run energy-intensive AI data centers.
“One of our moonshots is to one day have data centers in space to better capture the sun’s energy, which is vastly greater than what we generate on Earth,” Pichai said.
The first steps are scheduled for early 2027, when Google, in partnership with satellite imagery company Planet, will launch two pilot satellites to test the hardware in orbit. Pichai suggested that space-based data centers could become a standard approach within the next decade.
Google is not alone in looking skyward for more efficient computing. Startups like Starcloud, backed by Y Combinator and Nvidia, have already launched AI-equipped satellites, claiming that extraterrestrial data centers could cut carbon emissions by a factor of ten compared with traditional Earth-based facilities.
While satellite costs have fallen, the expense of constructing full-scale space data centers remains uncertain. For context, terrestrial data centers are expected to require more than $5 trillion in investment globally by 2030. Google itself recently committed $40 billion to building new data centers in Texas as part of its broader push into AI, particularly following the launch of Gemini 3.
Experts warn that overinvestment in data centers could be risky, potentially creating a glut, while underinvestment might leave companies trailing in AI capabilities.
Solar-powered space centers appeal to companies trying to reduce the environmental footprint of AI computing. Data center energy demand in the U.S. has tripled in the past decade and could double or triple again by 2028, potentially consuming up to 12% of national electricity. Google’s own data centers have seen electricity usage rise from 14.4 million megawatt-hours in 2020 to 30.8 million in 2024, even as the company reports a 12% reduction in emissions from these facilities.
United Nations officials have voiced concern about AI’s environmental impact, emphasizing the need to ensure that large-scale deployment of AI has a net positive effect on the planet.
