Google wants to send AI datacentres into space

Google is hatching plans to launch artificial intelligence datacentres into space, with its first trial equipment sent into orbit in early 2027, the US technology company has said.

- Robert Booth UK technology editor

Its scientists and engineers believe tightly packed constellations of about 80 solar-powered satellites could be arranged in a continuous low-level orbit about 400 miles above the Earth equipped with the computer processors required to train and run the planet’s rising demand for AI.

The cost of sending equipment to space is falling at such a rate that by the mid-2030s “the cost of launching and operating a space-based data centre could become roughly comparable to the reported energy costs of an equivalent terrestrial data centre on a per-kilowatt/year basis”, Google research released yesterday said.