The swift growth of artificial intelligence and cloud offerings has resulted in an enormous need for processing capabilities. This increase has put pressure on data infrastructure, which necessitates substantial electrical power for operation. A solitary, moderately sized data center situated on Earth can utilize sufficient electricity to supply approximately 16,500 residences, with even more extensive facilities using as much as a small city.
TL;DR
- Google's Project Suncatcher plans 81 satellites for space-based AI data hubs powered by solar energy.
- Space debris poses a significant threat to Google's Project Suncatcher and other space initiatives.
- The dense formation of Suncatcher satellites increases collision risk with space junk and orbital drag.
- Proactive evasion systems and orbital-use taxes are proposed solutions for managing space debris.
In recent years, prominent figures in the technology sector have increasingly championed space-based AI infrastructure as a method to tackle the energy demands of data centers.
In the vacuum of space, solar energy, which photovoltaic arrays can transform into electrical power, is plentiful and consistent. On November 4, 2025, Google unveiled Project Suncatcher, an ambitious initiative to deploy a constellation of 81 satellites into low Earth orbit was put forth. The intention is to utilize this satellite network to capture solar radiation for energizing future AI data hubs situated in space. Consequently, rather than transmitting power toward our planet, the constellation would relay data back to Earth.
Imagine if, rather than using a data center in Virginia to generate instructions for baking sourdough, your request was transmitted to the cosmos. There, it would be processed by advanced chips powered solely by the sun, and the baking instructions would then be transmitted back to your device. This method would necessitate abandoning the substantial heat generated in the frigid emptiness of space.
As a tech innovator, I commend Google's bold initiative. However, as a space scientist, I foresee that the firm will shortly face a mounting challenge: orbital junk.
The mathematics of disaster
Space debris – the accumulation of discarded man-made items in Earth’s orbit – is already impacting space organizations, businesses, and space travelers. This detritus comprises substantial components, like retired rocket boosters and inactive satellites, in addition to minute particles of paint and other remnants from decommissioned spacecraft.
Space debris travels at hypersonic speeds of approximately 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 km/h) in low Earth orbit. At this speed, colliding with a piece of debris the size of a blueberry would feel like being hit by a falling anvil.
Collisions in orbit and anti-satellite tests have generated a concerning quantity of space junk, a predicament now intensified by the swift growth of commercial satellite groups like SpaceX's Starlink. The Starlink constellation consists of more than 7,500 satellites, which deliver worldwide rapid internet access.
The U.S. Space Force actively tracks over 40,000 objects larger than a softball using ground-based radar and optical telescopes. However, this number represents less than 1% of the lethal objects in orbit. The majority are too small for these telescopes to reliably identify and track.
In November 2025, three Chinese taikonauts aboard the Tiangong space station were forced to delay their return to Earth after their capsule sustained damage from a fragment of orbital junk. In 2018, a similar incident aboard the International Space Station strained ties between the United States and Russia, with Russian news outlets suggesting a NASA cosmonaut might have intentionally tampered with the station.
Google's project aims for a Sun-synchronous orbit about 400 miles (650 kilometers) above our planet, an ideal spot for continuous solar power. In this orbit, the spacecraft's solar panels will consistently face the sun, enabling them to produce power for the onboard AI systems. However, this same characteristic makes the Sun-synchronous orbit a single most congested highway in low Earth orbit, increasing the probability of collisions with other satellites or space junk.
As fresh items enter orbit and current ones disintegrate, the region of low Earth orbit might reach Kessler syndrome. According to this hypothesis, after the quantity of items in low Earth orbit surpasses a crucial point, impacts between these items will trigger a chain reaction of additional fragments. Ultimately, this sequence of collisions might make specific orbital paths completely inaccessible.
Consequences for Project Suncatcher
Project Suncatcher proposes a collection of satellites equipped with substantial solar arrays. They'd orbit at a distance of merely one kilometer, with each unit positioned under 200 meters from its neighbors. To help visualize this, picture a racing circuit approximately the scale of the Daytona International Speedway, with 81 vehicles competing at 17,500 miles per hour – all while maintaining intervals akin to the safe stopping distance on a freeway.
This ultradense formation is necessary for the satellites to transmit data to each other. The constellation splits complex AI workloads across all its 81 units, enabling them to “think” and process data simultaneously as a single, massive, distributed brain. Google is partnering with a space company to launch two prototype satellites by early 2027 to validate the hardware.
However, within the void of space, maintaining formation flight presents an ongoing struggle against natural laws. Although the atmosphere in low Earth orbit is exceedingly tenuous, it's not entirely absent. Scant atmospheric particles generate orbital drag on satellites – a force that opposes the spacecraft's motion, decelerating it and causing its altitude to decrease. Satellites possessing extensive surface areas encounter greater challenges with this resistance, akin to a sail catching a breeze.
Adding to this complexity, solar particle streams and magnetic fields – known as space weather – can lead to unpredictable variations in the density of air particles within low Earth orbit. Such variations have a direct impact on orbital drag.
When satellites are positioned closer than 200 meters, any room for error disappears. A solitary collision might not only obliterate one satellite but propel it into adjacent ones, initiating a chain reaction that could eliminate the whole group and haphazardly disperse millions of new pieces of debris into an orbit that is already perilous.
The significance of proactive evasion
To avert malfunctions and chain reactions, satellite providers might implement a leave no trace guideline, involving the construction of satellites that avoid breaking apart, shedding fragments, or posing a threat to surrounding objects, and that can be securely taken out of orbit. For a satellite network as concentrated and complex as Suncatcher, adhering to this guideline could necessitate outfitting the satellites with “reflexes” that autonomously detect and navigate a zone of debris. Suncatcher’s existing configuration lacks these proactive evasion features.
During the initial half of 2025, SpaceX's Starlink satellite network executed an impressive 144,404 collision-avoidance maneuvers to avoid collisions with space junk and other orbiting objects. Likewise, Suncatcher would probably face debris exceeding the size of a sand particle every five seconds.
Current object-tracking systems typically focus on debris exceeding a softball's size, rendering millions of smaller debris pieces largely undetectable by satellite operators. Upcoming satellite networks will require an integrated detection mechanism capable of actively spot these smaller threats and independently guiding the satellite in real-time.
Giving Suncatcher the ability to actively avoid collisions would be a significant engineering accomplishment. Given the limited space, the entire constellation would have to react as one unified body. The satellites would require synchronized adjustments, much like a synchronized flock of birds. Every satellite would need to be sensitive to the smallest movement of its adjacent unit.
Paying rent for the orbit
Technological solutions, however, can go only so far. In September 2022, the Federal Communications Commission created a rule requiring satellite operators to remove their spacecraft from orbit within five years of the mission’s completion. This typically involves a controlled de-orbit maneuver. Operators must now reserve enough fuel to fire the thrusters at the end of the mission to lower the satellite’s altitude, until atmospheric drag takes over and the spacecraft burns up in the atmosphere.
Nevertheless, the regulation doesn't cover existing space junk, nor any future debris resulting from accidents or unfortunate events. To confront these challenges, certain lawmakers have suggested a use-tax for space debris removal.
An orbital-use charge or a use-tax would impose a fee on satellite operators, calculated by the orbital strain their satellite network creates, similar to how heavier or larger vehicles incur higher tolls for utilizing public roadways. These collected revenues would then support active debris removal missions, tasked with capturing and clearing away the most hazardous debris.
Preventing collisions represents a short-term technical adjustment, rather than a lasting resolution to the issue of space junk. With certain corporations viewing space as a future location for data storage facilities, and others persisting in launching satellite networks into orbit, new regulations and initiatives for removing defunct objects could prove beneficial keep low Earth orbit open for business.
Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti, Associate Research Scientist, University of Michigan
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
