Space computing attracts attention; industry ecosystem is gradually taking shape

Securities Daily reporter Kou Jiali

Recently, “space computing power” has drawn widespread attention in the market.

Zhao Ce, deputy director of the Information and Communications Development Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said on April 3 at the 2026 Space Computing Power Industry Conference held in Beijing Economic-Technological Development Zone that space computing power is fostering new opportunities, while also facing many new challenges that urgently need to be addressed. It is necessary to strengthen overall planning, make forward-looking arrangements, deepen industrial cultivation, further coordinate to tackle key problems, and steadily and orderly promote the development of the space computing power industry. Earlier, at the 2026 “XingSuAN·ZhiLian” space computing power symposium held on January 26, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, together with representatives from more than 10 research institutes and companies, jointly released the “Computing Power Star Network” space computing power cooperation initiative.

Zhang Xiaorong, president of the Deep Technology Research Institute, said in an interview with a Securities Daily reporter that by focusing on space computing power and taking proactive action, all parties are helping to break through constraints related to space and energy. This will provide strong support for new progress on topics such as artificial intelligence, the digital economy, and national security, help our country better respond to international competitive pressure, and further seize the commanding heights of technological development.

Space computing power refers to deploying computing resources such as servers, AI chips, and storage devices in space environments like low Earth orbit and geosynchronous orbit, and building space data centers, so that the entire process of data acquisition, processing, storage, and output can be completed in orbit.

Compared with ground computing power centers, by forming networks through satellite constellations, space computing power centers can provide globally covered computing services and greatly enhance real-time data processing capabilities. Specifically, space computing power mainly includes three computing modes. From simple to complex, they are: day-to-day computing in the sky, ground-to-sky computing, and integrated sky-and-ground coordinated computing (also known as “space-based primary computing”).

Day-to-day computing in the sky means that after data is collected in space, it is directly processed in space, with only the processing results transmitted back to the ground. Ground-to-sky computing means leveraging the low-cost and high-efficiency advantages of space computing power to upload data generated on the ground to space for processing. Integrated sky-and-ground coordinated computing means that space computing power centers and ground computing power centers work together to form a globally covering distributed computing network, with the two mutually supplementing each other.

In terms of policy, the release of documents such as the “Action Plan for Promoting High-Quality and Safe Development of Commercial Spaceflight (2025—2027)” by the National Space Administration and “Several Measures of Beijing Municipality to Promote the Development and Utilization of Commercial Satellite Remote Sensing Data Resources (2026—2030)” provides institutional safeguards for the evolution of space computing power. In terms of technology, breakthroughs such as spaceborne intelligent computing chips and inter-satellite laser communication are being accelerated, and the reliability of energy systems is gradually improving. In terms of capital, the national venture capital guidance fund began operations on December 26, 2025, playing a leading and driving role for central funds. It attracts social capital to participate together, supports nurturing and growing emerging industries and future industries, and sends positive signals to the outside world.

Benefiting from the above multiple factors, at this stage, China is launching dense satellite deployments in an orderly manner, related satellite constellation networking plans are being carried out as scheduled, in-orbit deployment of large models is progressing steadily, and the industrial ecosystem of space computing power is being gradually established.

Regarding key work going forward, Chen Xiaohua, executive director of the Education and Science & Technology Research Institute of China Mobile Communications Association, told a Securities Daily reporter that all parties need to assess industry trends, coordinate and plan policy support; strengthen core technology breakthroughs, continue to reduce satellite launch costs and the deployment costs of space energy systems, and promote coordinated efforts across industry, academia, and research; encourage qualified localities to pilot first and proceed in advance, and make forward-looking deployments for the space computing power industry; and explore application scenarios to support the penetration of space computing power into other industries.