For a moment forget giant rockets or colonies on Mars, the space race has changed course, the new battlefield is now in Earth's orbit and involves something even more powerful artificial intelligence in real time in space, China has just launched an ambitious project to build the first orbital supercomputer, using a constellation of interconnected satellites that function as a true space processing cloud.
With this, the country takes a bold step towards the domain of computing outside the Earth and the impacts of this initiative go far beyond science, called a three-body computing constellation, the project foresees thousands of satellites working together to form a distributed computer with the capacity of up to 1000 peta operations per second that is 1000 times more than some current terrestrial supercomputers.
The first 12 satellites have already been launched aboard a 2D long march rocket from the Taiyuan space center and carry built-in AI technology, in addition to inter-satellite communication links, ensuring real-time synchronization and coordinated processing, those satellites were designed to process data directly in orbit without depending on sending it to Earth for subsequent analysis.
This represents a paradigm shift in space computing with immediate impacts on sectors such as weather forecasting, natural disaster detection, planetary exploration, and strategic espionage. According to Yang, director of the Senyang laboratory and member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the goal is to increase the computational power of satellites from teraflops to petaflops with the same ease with which the internet connects computers here on Earth. With that, even a single satellite in the constellation is capable of delivering value independently. In addition to the physical infrastructure, the constellation is designed to be fully integrated with cutting-edge AI algorithms capable of processing images, interpreting astrophysical data, and even making operational decisions in real time.
One of the satellites, for example, carries an X-ray polarization detector used to study gamma-ray bursts, extremely energetic phenomena that can help us understand the origin of the universe and black holes. But the focus is not only on research; this constellation is the embryo of the first space-based cloud computing network with scientific, economic, and, of course, military applications.
The ability to process large volumes of data directly in orbit eliminates delays caused by sending and receiving information from Earth, which can transform critical operations from global surveillance to autonomous satellite control, space drones, and unmanned spacecraft. It also ushers in a new phase of strategic competition between powers. Although the United States and Europe have already tested cutting-edge computing in space, China is the first to launch an entire constellation developed exclusively for large-scale AI.
The promise is that later this year, more than 50 satellites will be deployed, creating a space network that could completely redefine the foundations of modern computing. For a long time, we looked to the sky for answers; now we are populating that sky with machines that think, observe, and decide on their own. But with so much computing power floating above our heads, who will really be in control?
The three-body constellation will be a milestone, but it may also be more than a technological revolution. Perhaps it represents the beginning of a new planetary hierarchy, where invisible infrastructure in space can define who dominates narratives, data, and destinies.
Are we heading for the stars with it, or will we be just another variable in its calculations?
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