Mark Zuckerberg also stated that he will build a Hyperion artificial intelligence (AI) data center the size of Manhattan in the near future, which will require high land, water and energy consumption. Many may not realize that in addition to the land, water and power issues, these data centers produce noise pollution. A long-term solution that is being studied is to build a data center in space. This science fiction-like idea is also being explored by Google through Project Suncatcher.
Two satellites, each equipped with four Google TPU chips, will be launched into space in 2027. It will test whether a space AI data center can be built. At an altitude of around 650 km from the Earth's surface, the space AI data center can get electricity directly from the sun. The efficiency of solar panels to produce electricity is 8 times higher in space. Theoretically, wireless power supply can be generated indefinitely.
Google also predicts that this project may be built by the mid-2030s when the cost of launching a satellite into orbit drops to as low as $200/kg. If Project Suncatcher goes ahead, Google will follow in the footsteps of Starcloud, a pioneer company in the NVIDIA Inception program, and China, which also wants to do something similar.
