Data centers do not have to be built on Earth! Chinese companies have already sent computing facilities into space

At 12:12, 12 space computing satellites successfully launched aboard the Long March 2D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

These 12 computing satellites, each equipped with space computing and space interconnect capabilities, will form the world's first space computing constellation.

Behind them is the "Star Computing" program initiated by the commercial aerospace company Guoxing Aerospace.

The successful launch of the first constellation mission of the "Star Computing" program marks the beginning of a new chapter in the global "Space Computing Era."

In the future, they plan to launch more satellites to weave a vast space computing network composed of 2,800 satellites.

The First Batch of Satellites in the "Star Computing" Program Officially Set Sail

The "Star Computing" program is led by Guoxing Aerospace, in collaboration with the first batch of 54 universities, research institutes, listed companies, and investment institutions to jointly initiate and invest in its construction.

The space computing constellation 021 mission is the inaugural constellation of the "Star Computing" program initiated by Guoxing Aerospace and is also the inaugural constellation of the "Three-Body Computing Constellation" from the Zhijiang Laboratory. The constellation consists of 12 computing satellites developed by Guoxing Aerospace with investments from different entities.

Its goal is to launch computing servers into orbit to form a space-based intelligent computing infrastructure, with this launch mission deploying the first twelve computing satellites into orbit. Each satellite is capable of space computing and space interconnect.

In addition to the AI payloads developed by Guoxing Aerospace, this batch of satellites also carries space computing software and hardware, including onboard intelligent computers developed by Zhijiang Laboratory, achieving "computing power in space, networking in orbit, and models in space."

Compared to traditional application satellites, computing satellites will increase the computing power of a single satellite from T-level to P-level, with the inaugural constellation achieving an on-orbit computing capability of 5POPS, greatly enhancing the high-performance space computing capability of individual satellites.

Moreover, these satellites can form an interconnected network similar to the "Internet," using laser communication between satellites, with communication speeds reaching up to 100Gbps.

This constellation will complete a series of on-orbit verification and application of basic space computing functions.

Furthermore, the computing satellites in space will not only represent a new way of deploying computing power but will also change the paradigm of scientific research, supporting scientists in exploring more unknowns.

The space computing center can play the role of a "Space Intelligent Hub," widely supporting real-time on-orbit computation and processing of massive deep space exploration data For example, the satellite launched this time is equipped with a cosmic X-ray polarization detector developed by Guangxi University and the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which will conduct on-orbit rapid detection, identification, and classification of various transient sources such as gamma-ray bursts through a space-based astronomical time-domain model, and trigger coordinated observations of binary stars.

The "XingSuan" plan will have more launches in the future, with the ultimate goal of a space-based computing power network consisting of 2,800 computing satellites.

Among them, the "XingSuan" plan 02 constellation has now entered the design and development stage, and the Guoxing Aerospace satellite team is intensifying its efforts to develop more powerful satellite models.

So, why do people want to deploy computing power facilities in space?

Why Should Computing Power "Go to Space"?

Taking the hottest large models in the artificial intelligence industry as an example, what seems to be a simple question-and-answer application is, in fact, a "money-consuming monster."

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman once revealed that ChatGPT incurs tens of millions of dollars in costs just because users say "thank you."

Among these, energy costs are an important component.

Research institutions analyze that on facilities based on H100, a typical query consumes about 0.3Wh of electricity.

What does this mean? The battery capacity of the iPhone 14 Pro Max is about 14.1Wh, which means that the energy consumed by asking 47 questions is enough to fully charge an iPhone.

Looking at the macro level, according to data from the International Energy Agency, by 2026, the total electricity consumption of global data centers may exceed 1,000 trillion (10^12) watt-hours, which is approximately 1 trillion kilowatt-hours, roughly equivalent to Japan's electricity consumption.

And deploying in space is an effective way to save energy costs.

Without the filtering of the ozone layer, space can receive more solar radiation, and without rain or snow, solar energy can continuously supply power to computing facilities.

In addition to the energy consumed by their own operation, cooling computing devices is also a significant consumption.

Google's environmental report shows that in 2022, when AI applications had not yet become widespread, its data centers used 5.2 billion gallons (about 19.7 million tons) of cooling water, equivalent to 1.36 West Lakes.

However, the low-temperature environment in space can serve as a natural cooling source, and some companies establish data centers in extremely cold regions for the same reason.

Once electricity and heat dissipation are resolved by the space environment, the cost of deploying computing power in space, aside from daily maintenance, is almost limited to the research and launch of these one-time investments.

Moreover, the cost of launching is also decreasing. A report by Frost & Sullivan shows that the launch cost of Chinese satellites is decreasing year by year, and it is expected to be 60,000 yuan per kilogram this year

In addition to cost, computing power devices in space can also serve as an effective means of "space-based data" processing, achieving "space computing in real-time."

Wang Jianyu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the president of the Hangzhou Advanced Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, stated that as the resolution of satellite Earth observation increases, the volume of data continues to grow. Sending all the data back to the ground for processing not only incurs a large transmission volume but also affects the timeliness of data application.

Taking remote sensing satellites as an example, in the past, the data they collected needed to be sent back to the ground for processing, and there were bandwidth bottlenecks during the transmission process.

However, the satellites launched this time are equipped with Earth remote sensing payloads that can process data immediately upon acquisition and then directly send the results back to the ground, allowing for more timely perception of natural disasters and other anomalies.

At the same time, the satellites are also equipped with high-bandwidth transmission facilities, which may open communication with third-party satellites in the future, allowing "space computing in real-time" to provide services to more users.

Additionally, due to the dedicated communication methods between space and ground, space computing centers will be more secure than ordinary computing centers connected via the internet.

With these advantages, the ultimate development goal of space computing centers is to form a "cooperative synergy" with the ground, making space-based computing a new choice for the future.

Space-based computing will become a new option

There is no doubt that computing infrastructure has already taken a crucial position globally, and its accelerated expansion is an inevitable trend.

However, both geographical space and energy are limited, so people are also beginning to explore new locations for data center deployment. Apart from space, data centers have already appeared in caves, underwater, and polar regions.

Taking underwater as an example, in 2015, Microsoft built the first prototype of an underwater data center, and in 2018, it placed the completed experimental pod on the seabed near the Orkney Islands in Scotland, containing 864 servers.

In China, the world's first commercial underwater data center was put into operation in March 2023 in Lingshui, Hainan; this February, a new data pod was connected to this data center, forming a cluster of underwater intelligent computing centers.

In this model, space may not be fundamentally different from underwater or polar regions, but rather represents a new exploratory direction for computing power deployment.

According to a report by CNBC last year, the European Union has also generated ideas for building data centers in space.

As of that time, the EU had already spent 2 million euros _ (approximately 15.6 million RMB at the time's exchange rate) _ to conduct feasibility studies, proving the viability of this idea from both technical and economic perspectives.

In Florida, USA, a company named Lonestar Data Holdings is also looking to space, planning to build a computing center on the Moon.

In March of this year, a micro data center from the company has already arrived on the Moon along with the "Athena" lunar lander Coincidentally, Starcloud in Washington State also plans to launch a satellite data center this month, with commercial operations starting in mid-2026.

Whether domestically or internationally, whether by national teams or commercial companies, people have already demonstrated through action that space may become a new option for future computing power deployment.

It is worth noting that the European Union's space computing power program will not have rockets ready to meet its requirements until 2035, followed by an additional 15 years for deployment.

However, in China in 2025, the first batch of computing power satellites has officially been launched into service.

This time, China is at the forefront of the trend.

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