UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Can datacentres in orbit solve for AI models’ energy demand?

Q1. The preliminary feasibility study, reported in early 2026, on establishing in-orbit Artificial Intelligence datacentres for India is being undertaken by which one of the following?

  • A. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)
  • B. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), under the Department of Space
  • C. Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)
  • D. National Informatics Centre (NIC)

Q2. In the context of orbital datacentre proposals such as Project Suncatcher, the term 'Low-Earth Orbit' (LEO) refers to:

  • A. An orbit at an altitude of about 35,786 km, in which a satellite appears fixed over one point on the equator
  • B. An orbit roughly between 200 km and 2,000 km above the Earth's surface
  • C. A highly elliptical orbit that extends beyond the Moon's orbit
  • D. An orbit located at the Sun-Earth Lagrange point L2, about 1.5 million km from Earth

Q3. Project Suncatcher, the orbital AI datacentre initiative unveiled in November 2025, is being led by which one of the following entities?

  • A. Google Research, with prototype launches planned in partnership with Earth-imaging firm Planet Labs
  • B. Microsoft Azure Space, in partnership with SpaceX Starlink
  • C. Amazon Web Services, in partnership with its Project Kuiper constellation
  • D. Meta AI Research, in partnership with Blue Origin