Overview
- Google released a preprint and blog outlining plans with Planet Labs to fly two TPU‑equipped prototype satellites by early 2027 to assess power, communications and system reliability.
- Lab radiation tests reported that Trillium v6e TPUs showed no hard failures up to a total ionizing dose of 15 krad(Si) under a 67 MeV proton beam.
- The concept envisions compact constellations in dawn‑dusk sun‑synchronous orbit using free‑space optical links targeting tens of terabits per second.
- Tight formation flying within roughly a kilometer, advanced collision avoidance, vacuum thermal management and high‑throughput optical interconnects remain unresolved challenges.
- Google frames the effort as long‑term research, projecting potential cost parity only if launch prices fall toward about $200 per kilogram by the mid‑2030s.