Mountainview, Sept. 25 -- Google on Thursday announced that its Project Suncatcher is scheduled to embark on its first test in orbit, launching a prototype satellite to evaluate how Google Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) perform in space.

Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) is a custom application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designed by Google Cloud to accelerate artificial intelligence and machine learning workloads.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai in a post on X said, "Can our TPUs survive and operate in space? Well, we're going to find out. Project Suncatcher is hitching a ride aboard @SpaceX's Transporter-18 mission, testing a prototype satellite built in partnership with @planet. One small step for TPUs...."

According to Google, Project S...