China has initiated its ambitious project by launching the first 12 satellites of a planned network aimed at creating an orbital supercomputer, according to reports from Space News. These satellites, developed by ADA Space in collaboration with Zhijiang Laboratory and Neijang High-Tech Zone, are equipped to process data autonomously, eliminating the need for terrestrial data stations.
Designated under the “Star Compute” program, these satellites are the first installment of what ADA Space refers to as the “Three-Body Computing Constellation.” Each satellite is powered by an onboard AI model featuring 8 billion parameters with a processing capability of 744 tera operations per second (TOPS). Collectively, the constellation is designed to perform at a remarkable total of 5 peta operations per second (POPS). This processing power notably exceeds the 40 TOPS utilized by systems such as Microsoft Copilot, with a broader objective aiming for a future network of thousands of satellites capable of reaching 1,000 POPS, as outlined by the Chinese government.
These satellites are interconnected via laser communications, achieving speeds of up to 100Gbps and sharing a storage capacity of 30 terabytes among themselves, according to Space News. The 12 satellites recently launched are equipped with scientific instruments, including an X-ray polarization detector designed to observe transient cosmic events such as gamma-ray bursts. Furthermore, they possess the technology to generate 3D digital twin data applicable in various fields, including emergency response, video gaming, and tourism, as highlighted in ADA Space’s announcement.
The establishment of a space-based supercomputing network promises multiple advantages beyond enhanced communication efficiency. The South China Morning Post notes that conventional satellite data transmission is often slow, leading to situations where “less than 10 percent” of satellite data successfully makes its way to Earth due to limitations such as bandwidth and the availability of ground stations. Jonathan McDowell, a space historian and astronomer at Harvard University, remarked that orbital data centers can harness solar energy and dissipate heat into space, thereby lowering energy requirements and reducing their carbon footprint. He also suggested that similar initiatives could be pursued in the US and Europe in the future, according to SCMP.
