China Building World's First Supercomputer In Space Using AI-Powered Satellites

NDTV

19-05-2025

China is building the world's first supercomputer network in space, for which it launched 12 AI-powered satellites last week. The state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation announced that the first of 2,800 satellites, part of its 'Star Computing' programme, were launched aboard a Long March 2D rocket and successfully deployed into orbit.
Each of the 12 satellites can process up to 744 trillion operations per second, having transfer rates up to 100 gigabits per second. The satellites are also equipped with a space-based AI model with eight billion parameters, capable of processing raw satellite data directly in orbit.
"The Long March 2D carrier rocket successfully sent the space computing satellite constellation into the predetermined orbit. The launch mission was a complete success," the agency said.
"The space computing satellite constellation is the first constellation of the 'Star Computing' program."
The "Three-Body Computing Constellation" will function as a space-based data processing network capable of computing vast amounts of information directly in orbit, without relying on any Earth-based infrastructure.
It will also be more powerful than any other supercomputer system on Earth, as it wouldn't need the costly cooling systems that Earth-based computing systems require. According to estimates by the International Energy Agency, data centres globally could consume more than 1,000 terawatt hours of electricity by 2026, which is equivalent to Japan's electricity use.
Currently, less than 10 per cent of the collected data by satellites is relayed to Earth, often with significant delays, according to a report in South China Morning Post. The new Chinese endeavour, however, aims to solve the limits of Earth-based data processing.
China's ambitious space plans
This is not the first instance of China announcing its ambitious plans for space. Earlier this year, Beijing unveiled plans to build the "Three Gorges Dam of Space" to harness limitless solar power.
This initiative involves deploying a massive solar array one kilometre wide in geostationary orbit, 36,000 kilometres above Earth, where it can collect solar energy uninterruptedly, unaffected by the planet's day-night cycle or weather conditions.