Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL) shares rose 3.18% to $18.17 in premarket trading Friday following an announcement that Google's Project Suncatcher is preparing for its first orbital test next week. The stock closed Thursday at $17.62, up 7.57%, and was trading approximately 11.4% above its Sept. 18 closing price of $16.42.
Google said the first Project Suncatcher orbital test will fly aboard SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare mission. The prototype satellite mission, developed in partnership with Planet, is designed to collect data on how Google Tensor Processing Units perform through launch and in the radiation and thermal environment of space.
From Ground Tests to Orbit
Before launch, Google conducted extensive ground testing to reduce hardware risk. The satellite underwent vibration testing to simulate rocket-launch conditions, while Trillium TPUs were tested with a proton beam at the University of California, Davis' Crocker Nuclear Laboratory. According to Google, radiation tests indicated the chips could withstand a total ionizing dose exceeding what they would receive during a five-year space mission.
Google also tested a cooling system combining heat pipes and radiators in a thermal-vacuum chamber. Unlike terrestrial data centers, spacecraft electronics in orbit cannot rely on airflow for heat removal, making thermal management a key focus of the orbital demonstration.
Two-Phase Validation Plan
The orbital test represents the first phase of a two-step validation approach. The next phase, scheduled for 2027, will deploy two satellites to test the high-bandwidth laser links needed for spacecraft operating as a coordinated computing cluster.
Planet announced its participation in Project Suncatcher on Nov. 4, 2025, stating it would use its spacecraft-design and operations capabilities to support Google's effort to explore scalable machine-learning computing in space. Planet said the program uses the same satellite-bus architecture associated with its Owl technology roadmap.
