Conceptual diagram of AI Photo: VCG

A Chinese research team at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications has announced key breakthroughs in space computing. The team's self-developed space server - launched aboard the Beiyou-2 and Beiyou-3 satellites - has been operating stably in orbit for nearly a year, the Science and Technology Daily reported on Sunday. 

The space server has completed multiple cutting-edge scientific experiments, fully validating its underlying technical architecture and injecting strong momentum into China's space computing capabilities, the report said. The TianSuan Constellation team is led by Wang Shangguang, a professor at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.

In terms of space computing, the space server's exploration of inter-satellite consensus algorithms has laid a solid foundation for the future construction of space-based distributed computing networks. Meanwhile, in artificial intelligence (AI) and communications, the team achieved a 50-fold improvement in image parsing and information acquisition efficiency through star-ground collaboration, while also verifying the stable operation of the 6G satellite-borne core network under harsh space conditions. 

In software deployment and data transmission, containerization technology enabled efficient satellite software iteration, cutting average transmission latency by 56.54 percent. It also demonstrated how semantic communication technology can overcome narrow star-ground link bandwidth and high bit error rates, the report noted. 

Space computing power refers to the deployment of computing capabilities in space, which can achieve seamless global coverage through satellite networking. Observers pointed out that compared with ground-based computing centers, space computing deploys radiation-hardened chips, servers, storage devices, and other computing equipment directly onto satellites in orbit, thereby upgrading satellites from mere "sensors" to "intelligent nodes" so as to ensure "real-time performance" and "greater coverage."

Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences who focuses on the tech sector, told the Global Times on Sunday that the exploration of space computing power comes as the global AI industry enters a period of explosive growth. 

"The development of ground-based computing centers has faced multiple challenges, including energy supply, heat dissipation and land resources," Wang said. He noted that space is relatively "computing-power-friendly," as it has inexhaustible solar energy and a naturally ultra-low temperature vacuum environment. As space computing power completes satellite networking, it could enable nearly 100 percent seamless global coverage.

Attending a press briefing of the State Council Information Office earlier this month, officials of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that the country will support forward-looking research on space computing power technology and promote the orderly development of the space computing power industry.

China is the first country to achieve on-orbit networking and operation of a space computing constellation, Xie Lina, a deputy director of the Data Center Department at the Institute of Cloud Computing and Big Data under the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, China Central Television reported on Sunday.
 
By 2035, China will build a global space infrastructure consisting of 2,800 computing-power satellites. This supercomputing center will be made available to global partners, Xie said.