Google is sending artificial-intelligence chips into orbit next week in an early test of space-based data centers. The experiment could have significant implications for Google parent Alphabet and its launch partner, SpaceX.

Google will use a prototype satellite to examine how its in-house Tensor Processing Unit chips, or TPUs, perform in space. SpaceX.will be responsible for sending the satellite into orbit as part of its Transporter 18 launch, which is scheduled to depart Southern California on Oct. 1, according to multiple spaceflight databases.

Operating solar-powered data centers in space-where land, energy, and community resistance aren't limitations-has become a primary goal for SpaceX and its founder Elon Musk. Google, meanwhile, unveiled a "research moonshot" called Project Suncatcher last year to bring AI into space.

Next week's launch will test whether TPUs can withstand the intense 10-minute flight into low Earth orbit and the level of radiation beyond the Earth's atmosphere. Google will also evaluate ways to cool the TPUs in an environment without airflow.

Google is planning to put two satellites into orbit in 2027 after the initial prototype. The company eventually wants to connect multiple groups of satellites that can manage large AI workloads together, but it is urging patience.

"Exploring space as a viable location for scalable AI compute won't happen all at once," the company wrote in a blog post Thursday. "This first launch is about seeing what works, identifying points of failure, and applying those findings to future missions."