Google flies to St. Louis via a brief, looping non-journey

Google flew from its own departure point back to the same airport, Spirit of St. Louis Airport (KSUS), on May 20, 2026, in a Gulfstream G550 (tail N904G). The flight reached a maximum altitude of only 275 feet and a top ground speed of 120 knots, suggesting a maintenance check or a pilot proficiency sortie rather than a trip carrying Sundar Pichai to a board meeting.

The same week, Google is reportedly in advanced talks with SpaceX to launch orbital data centers, a potential deal that could boost SpaceX's upcoming initial public offering, per Bloomberg and TechCrunch. The discussions, confirmed by sources familiar with the matter, center on Project Suncatcher, Google's initiative to launch prototype satellites with its own Tensor Processing Units by 2027. A partnership with SpaceX, which already counts Google as a 6.1% owner per regulatory filings, would leverage SpaceX's unmatched launch cadence and Starlink connectivity.

The brief St. Louis flight stands in contrast to Google's recent transcontinental and transatlantic movements: N904G flew from London Stansted to Teterboro on May 18, and from Teterboro back to Moffett Field on May 15. The company's fleet of two Gulfstream G550s, based at Moffett Federal Airfield under a 60-year, $1.16 billion lease, typically shuttles executives to recurring destinations like KTEB, KSBA, and KLAS. This week's local loop suggests a rare pause from the orbital negotiations.