Beijing to bring large-scale AI computing to space with new data center plan

The Beijing sci-tech commission, together with leading space research institutions and enterprises in the city, plans to establish a space data center in the near-Earth dawn-dusk orbit, approximately 700-800 kilometers above the Earth.

This announcement came during a meeting held Thursday by the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission and the Beijing Astro-Future Institute of Space Technology. The space data center will form a large-scale, centralized system with a power capacity exceeding 1 gigawatt. It will include subsystems for space-based computing power, relay transmission and ground control. Each sub-center of the system will be capable of housing server clusters with a total capacity of millions of units.

The data center will be developed in three phases. From 2025 to 2027, the focus will be on overcoming core technological challenges and launching the first phase of the computing constellation; from 2028 to 2030, the goal is to achieve the integration of Earth-based data processing with space-based computing power; and by 2035, a large-scale space data center will be established, capable of supporting space-based computing.

An innovation consortium was launched to support the development of the space data center. The consortium, led by the Beijing Astro-Future Institute of Space Technology and its affiliated enterprises, brings together 24 organizations from across the industrial chain.

It will focus on advancing the construction and applications of the space data center, and promote the integration of the space data center with cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), mobile communications, new materials and renewable energy, with an aim to fostering new business models in space-based information applications.

The development of the first-generation experimental satellite for the data center has already been completed, with plans for its launch scheduled for the end of 2025 or early 2026.

The Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission emphasized that the data center represents a strategic fusion of commercial space and AI technologies. Beijing will provide increased support for the project, positioning it as a cornerstone for the city's broader efforts to establish itself as a global hub for scientific and technological innovation, helping create new industrial chains and close the commercial loop around space technology and its applications.

(With input from Xinhua)