Whilst it is possible to configure “log shipping” between different versions of SQL Server, the result can only be used for disaster recovery.
This is because “standby mode” (where the data could be read on GCP) requires the same versions of SQL Server on the primary and secondary servers.
The automatic upgrading of the database objects (from say 2008r2, to say 2017), when brought online could not happen fast enough to support the continuous nature of “standby mode”.
Database Consultant 