China successfully launched eight satellites for a space-based computing project on Wednesday aboard the Zhuque-2E rocket, developed by the commercial space company LandSpace.

The mission carried 10 satellites in total and lifted off from the Dongfeng Commercial Space Innovation Test Zone in northwest China. The other two satellites were laser-communication test satellites developed by Lanta Intelligence. All 10 satellites entered their planned orbits.

The eight satellites make up the second batch of the space-based computing project dubbed “Xing Suan.” They carry high-performance computing payloads, high-speed laser communication systems linking satellites to one another and to the ground, and low-light cameras.

Developed by the Chinese commercial satellite company ADA Space, the new group will test several key technologies, including a liquid-cooling system at the 10-kilowatt scale, large deployable radiative-cooling wings, a laser communication network, and foundation-model training in orbit. 

These tests will help assess how data can be processed in orbit while maintaining reliable computing performance, managing heat, and transferring information efficiently.

Traditionally, large volumes of satellite data are transmitted back to Earth for processing. Onboard computing could enable more data to be analyzed in space before results are sent to the ground, potentially reducing transmission demands and delays while supporting applications in artificial intelligence and remote sensing.

In May 2025, the first group of 12 satellites was launched, marking the initial deployment of the constellation.

In January 2026, the company announced it had deployed Alibaba’s Qwen3 large language model at its first space-based computing center. During tests, questions sent from Earth were processed on the satellites, and the results were returned to ground stations within about two minutes. The company described the achievement as the first deployment of a general-purpose large-scale AI model to an operational satellite constellation in orbit.

While that demonstration involved running AI reasoning tasks in orbit, the newly launched satellites are also set to test foundation-model training in space, thereby expanding the range of computing capabilities being explored.

The development comes as China advances plans for a more integrated computing and communications infrastructure. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, from 2026 to 2030, China is prioritizing the development of an integrated computing-power network and accelerating the deployment of low-orbit satellite internet. Computing-power and next-generation communications networks are also among the six major infrastructure networks identified for coordinated planning and development.

Space-based computing remains an emerging field, and its broader applications will depend on the reliability and performance of technologies tested in orbit. The latest launch adds another group of satellites to that effort as China explores how computing and AI capabilities could increasingly operate beyond Earth.

(CGTN’s Wu Lei also contributed to the story.)