Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) will launch an experimental AI satellite as part of Project Suncatcher on Oct. 1, according to a report from the New York Times.

The satellite is the first hardware from Project Suncatcher, Google’s effort to build AI data centers in orbit, and it is going up months ahead of schedule.

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Google first said its Suncatcher prototypes with Planet Labs PBC (NYSE:PL) would launch in early 2027, and a single satellite going up months early has a direct read-through for Planet Labs shares.

The satellite, named MVP, is set to fly on a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) out of Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, the Times reported. 

What’s Onboard

MVP carries four Google tensor processing units, which together have about the computing power of one data-center server. Its solar panels will deliver about one kilowatt. Enough to answer simple Gemini queries from orbit.

Heat is the hard part. Fans don’t work in space, so Google built a layered cooling system that moves heat through thermal interface material, aluminum and copper to a radiator panel. 

The chips can run for about 15 minutes before they shut down to cool, Travis Beals, Google’s senior director of product management for Project Suncatcher, told the Times.

The satellite is designed to operate for about a year.

The Planet Labs Angle

Planet Labs originally agreed to launch two satellites for Google in 2027. Google then pushed to reach orbit this year and accepted added risk to do it, according to Eric Stevens, a director of systems engineering at Planet Labs. 

To speed things up, Google installed its chips in a ready-made Planet Labs satellite. Google, an investor in Planet Labs, still plans to launch a pair of satellites next year and has designs for fleets of more than 80 satellites flying in close formation.

Planet Labs shares traded near $16.46 on Thursday morning, according to Benzinga Pro data. The stock is up about 38% from its late-November 2025 close, a few weeks after Suncatcher was unveiled. It remains roughly 68% below its 52-week high of $51.76. 

A Long Runway

Google estimates orbital data centers could become cost-competitive with facilities on the ground by the mid-2030s as launch costs fall.

Executives are keeping expectations in check. “We don’t expect, to be perfectly frank, that we’ll have anything usefully operational in the next few years,” James Manyika, Google’s senior vice president for research, told the Times. He compared the effort to Google’s early driverless-car research.

Radiation is another test. In particle-accelerator trials, Google found that restarting its chips could usually reset errors caused by radiation.

GOOGL Stock Price Activity: Alphabet stock was up 0.28% at $338.76 at the time of publication Thursday, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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