Google flies from London to Teterboro amid orbital data center talks with SpaceX

Google flew from London Stansted to Teterboro on May 18, 2026, aboard its Gulfstream G550 (N904G), a seven-hour transatlantic hop that landed just after 10:40 p.m. local time. The aircraft, part of Google’s corporate fleet based at Moffett Federal Airfield, had arrived in London from Los Angeles five days earlier.

The trip lands in the New York area the same week the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg reported that Google is in talks with SpaceX to launch orbital data centers for its Project Suncatcher initiative. The project, announced last November, aims to network solar-powered satellites equipped with Google’s Tensor Processing Units into an AI cloud in space. Per a TechCrunch report on May 12, the potential deal comes as SpaceX prepares for a $1.75 trillion IPO and follows Anthropic’s agreement to use SpaceX’s Colossus 1 facility. Google is also working with Planet Labs on prototype satellites for a 2027 launch.

The flight pattern — Los Angeles to London, then London to Teterboro — suggests a week of cross-Atlantic meetings. With Google CEO Sundar Pichai having called orbital data centers “inevitable” in a November interview, and SpaceX’s Elon Musk pushing the same vision, this trip likely involved face-to-face discussions with partners or regulators on both sides of the Atlantic.