Beijing Satellite Town Lit, Strategic Agreement Signed; Shanghai 'Star Hub Plan' Debuts Three Satellites

Beijing is advancing the construction of space data centers, focusing on building an industrial core hub. Shanghai, leveraging its advantages in commercial aerospace and artificial intelligence industrial clusters, is pushing forward network deployment and application scenarios. Beijing has formed a 'south rockets, north satellites' layout, with over 300 commercial aerospace enterprises, more than half of the national top 100 companies. Shanghai plans to build a 'Rocket Star City' and has gathered a number of leading enterprises. Both cities are accelerating the first piece of the space computing puzzle.

The 'Chenguang-1' technology test satellite was recently launched from the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Experimental Zone and entered its planned orbit. Designed by Beijing Guidao Chenguang Technology Co. , Ltd. , the satellite primarily validates new space energy and heat dissipation technologies for space data centers. It carries a commercial computing server and a small remote sensing camera, conducting key core technology experiments for on-orbit computing while providing trial application services and Earth observation imaging. In 2025, Beijing proposed building and operating a centralized large-scale data center system with a total power capacity exceeding one thousand megawatts. The first phase, from 2025 to 2027, aims to break through key technologies such as energy and heat dissipation for space data centers, iteratively develop test satellites, build a first-phase computing constellation, and achieve the 'sky-to-sky computing' application goal. Since 2026, institutions such as the Space Computing Professional Committee and the Beijing Space Computing Innovation Center have been established. The satellite town, which hosts the 'north satellites' layout, was officially lit on July 24, with 10 key enterprises, including Guotian Kexin Space Technology, China Shangxing, Guidao Chenguang, and the Beijing Space Computing Innovation Center, signing agreements to move in.

The Beijing Space Computing Innovation Center is operated by Beijing Tiansuan Xinglian Technology Co. The center undertakes work such as common technology research and development, standard setting, and exploring application scenario deployment.

Shanghai's 'Star Hub Plan' initial constellation uses a minimalist cluster layout consisting of one central computing main satellite, one Fuxi meteorological satellite, and one instant remote sensing satellite. The three satellites are interconnected via inter-satellite laser links, with data collection, AI reasoning, and analysis all completed on orbit. According to the plan, the 'Star Hub Plan' will be implemented in phases: the validation phase will launch two computing satellites and 12 edge computing satellites; the commercial deployment phase will expand to 50 computing satellites and 100 edge computing satellites; and the final phase will complete a thousand-satellite deployment. The project primarily provides space computing and remote sensing services for meteorology, emergency response, and natural resources sectors. Shanghai Taiyi Weixing Aerospace Technology Co. is involved in the 'Star Hub Plan', leading the development of the ultra-low-orbit instant remote sensing satellite in the initial constellation, in collaboration with teams from Fudan University and East China Normal University. The ultra-low-orbit satellite is equipped with intelligent computing capabilities, allowing on-orbit data processing and result transmission.

Companies in the industrial chain are experiencing growing market demand. A deputy general manager at Zhongke Miwei said that the company can provide customized aerospace-grade computing modules for satellites, but the test satellites are still in the technology validation phase, so order growth is modest. Space heat dissipation is one of the technical challenges, as the vacuum environment lacks convection, making cooling difficult. At the Space Computing Industry Conference in April 2026, a survey showed that among space computing costs, launch costs account for about 30% to 40%, satellite manufacturing costs about 20% to 30%, and space environment adaptation, computing chips, and energy systems each account for a significant share. Currently, the application side of space computing is still in the development stage, and how to cover the high computing costs on the application side and achieve a closed commercial loop still requires exploration.