Beijing Enterprise Satellite’s “Super Intelligent Computing 1” computing power satellite was successfully launched into orbit at 12:03 on September 20 aboard the Lijian 1 Yao 18 carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The satellite is designed to process and analyze data in orbit, reducing the need to send large volumes of satellite data to ground-based data centers for processing.
According to a press release, the satellite is equipped with an on-board intelligent computing processing unit and uses laser communication technology to connect with other satellites and share computing resources. It can perform remote-sensing data processing, AI inference and real-time data analysis in orbit, allowing selected data to be processed before being transmitted to the ground.
Li Peiyang, Chief Technology Officer, Superintelligent Computing, said, “In the past, data collected by satellites needed to be transmitted back to ground data centers for processing, but they faced core pain points such as limited bandwidth for massive data transmission, high ground computing latency, and low data utilization. Now with computing power satellites, satellites have real-time computing, intelligent analysis and collaborative processing capabilities in the sky, thus breaking the lagging operation mode of the past ‘Tiangan Tiansuan’, realizing ‘Tiangan Tiansuan’, and effectively solving problems such as data response delays.”
The Super Intelligent Computing satellite can carry out remote-sensing big data processing, AI inference and real-time data analysis while in orbit. By processing data before transmission, the system is intended to reduce the volume of data sent to ground stations and shorten the time required to obtain usable results.
The technology is intended for applications including emergency disaster response, natural resource management, ecological monitoring and marine resource exploration. Super Intelligent Computing also said the technology could be applied to urban governance and ecological monitoring in Beijing.
The launch is the first step in Super Intelligent Computing’s planned expansion of its in-orbit computing resources. Super Intelligent Computing will steadily advance the large-scale layout of “Super Intelligent Computing Constellation”, continue to expand on-orbit computing power resources, optimize the layout of spatial nodes, create a world-wide collaborative comprehensive network and accessible three-dimensional intelligent computing network.