Commercial space industry anchors space computing power, with capital betting on the new blue ocean of the "star economy."

As global commercial space ventures accelerate, a quiet battle over “space computing power” is quietly unfolding. Recently, news that Elon Musk’s SpaceX applied to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to launch one million satellites to build a space data center has garnered industry attention.

“Satellite internet is a key focus of the commercial space industry. It drives the overall upgrade of the space sector and has become an important technological tool impacting national security, thus also becoming a focal point in international technological competition,” said Hao Xuetao, Chief Scientist of China Science Star Map Co., Ltd., and Deputy Director of the Innovation Research Institute, in an interview with China Radio Finance.

Hao Xuetao pointed out that the integration of space computing power and AI will become the next engine for value-added growth in commercial space: “As an essential component and upgrade direction of satellite internet, space computing networks will further amplify the satellite internet industry, similar to how cloud computing magnifies the internet industry.”

Developing Space Computing: Seizing New Opportunities in Computing Power

Why has space computing become a focus? During this year’s National Two Sessions, Zhang Tao, a deputy to the National People’s Congress and professor at Beihang University, stated: “Transforming from ‘sky-ground computing’ to ‘sky-sky computing’ will significantly improve the efficiency and safety of space missions.” He emphasized that space computing is a strategic battleground with high short-term investment and high long-term returns. It is not only a solution to the bottleneck of computing power but also a support for national security, the digital economy, and space power.

An industry insider who wished to remain anonymous explained to China Radio Finance: “Traditional satellites communicate with ground stations via ‘single-line contact,’ with data return rates of less than 10%. A large amount of data is backlog due to limited pass times.” Ground stations are mainly built domestically, and satellites can only transmit data when passing over ground stations. Limited pass time causes large data backlog.

Meanwhile, global demand for computing power is growing exponentially, and ground data centers face bottlenecks in energy consumption, land use, and heat dissipation. A report from Beijing Institute of Technology shows that over the next five years, the country’s data center electricity consumption will grow at an average annual rate of 20%, far exceeding the overall societal electricity growth rate.

Zhang Shan, Director of Beijing Xingchen Future Space Technology Research Institute, told China Radio Finance: “Traditional data centers consume a lot of electricity and require vast amounts of water for cooling. The space environment offers natural advantages—sun-synchronous orbits can provide 24-hour solar power, and the cosmic background temperature allows passive radiative cooling. Deploying data centers in space can seize new opportunities in developing green, low-carbon computing and open new paths for sustainable development.”

More importantly, space data centers will serve as the computing backbone for future applications such as 6G communication, space situational awareness, and real-time remote sensing. Industry experts believe: “The traditional ‘sky sensing, ground computing’ mode is limited by star-ground transmission bandwidth, often missing critical rescue windows. If everything can be seen and processed in space, image transmission becomes intelligence transmission—‘泥石流风险在东经多少度、北纬多少度’—greatly enhancing emergency response capabilities.” Additionally, deploying AI large models in orbit can provide real, first-hand training data for ground systems, solving the problem of internet data pollution.

On the technical front, Chinese companies are tackling core challenges. “Our space data center plan involves deploying thousands of computing satellites in the 700-800 km sun-synchronous orbit to build a large-scale space data center covering square kilometers,” said Zhang Shan. “At the same time, breakthroughs are needed in materials technology for energy and heat dissipation systems—these account for most of the satellite’s weight and are currently the focus. Costs must be reduced; only then can space data centers replace ground data centers.”

Capital Bets on the New Blue Ocean of ‘Starry Sky Economy’

With policy support and clear technological pathways, the capital market’s focus on commercial space is shifting from “storytelling” to “valuation estimation.”

Notably, under international rules of “first come, first served” for near-Earth orbital resources, the time window is narrowing. The International Telecommunication Union enforces strict registration of satellite frequencies and orbital slots, with idle resources at risk of being reclaimed. This means the development window is tight, and China must accelerate deployment and breakthroughs to secure future dominance and influence in space.

“The biggest current challenge is that costs haven’t come down yet,” said an industry insider. “Our satellite launch cost is about 50,000 yuan per kilogram, and reusable rockets are still in validation. By 2026, it might drop to 25,000 yuan per kilogram, but that’s still far from the scale requirement of 5,000 yuan per kilogram.”

“But waiting until costs fully drop to develop is too late,” he added. “The early stages of space data center projects rely heavily on equity financing and scientific research support. Large constellation construction still requires patient capital from the primary market.”

This patience is forming. China Radio Finance learned from multiple sources that the construction of space data centers has attracted attention from government investment funds and plans to introduce financing leasing and policy financial tools. Government investment funds are working with angel and venture capital to support startups through the entire process from R&D to commercialization.

The response from the capital market has been swift. In February, Changjiang Securities released a special report stating that the space computing industry chain covers upstream hardware and infrastructure, midstream system integration and operation management, and downstream diversified application services, with an expected market size of hundreds of billions of dollars by 2030. The report highlights that the rocket segment has the highest beta, highest barriers, and greatest resilience; satellite focus is on high-value payloads; space photovoltaics provide the core energy solutions for space computing.

As a key player in the space computing race, China Science Star Map’s strategic layout has attracted market attention. This aerospace information leader, evolving from a “remote sensing + digital earth software” company into an integrated full-industry chain provider, has planned commercial satellite constellations for space computing and sensing, strengthening multi-layered Earth data perception capabilities. In January 2025, its subsidiary Xingtu Measurement & Control successfully listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange, becoming the “first commercial space stock on the BSE.”

According to a research report from China Merchants Securities, JunDa Co., holding 60% of the shares of TuanTian QianHe, which has experience in developing nearly a hundred commercial satellites. Wushou Securities further disclosed that TuanTian QianHe has over 50 orders and a constellation scale of nearly 4,000 satellites, aiming for at least 5,000. In February 2026, JunDa completed an H-share placement, raising about HKD 400 million, mainly investing in commercial space-related fields.

Another notable company is ShunHao Co. In June 2025, it invested 110 million yuan to acquire a 19.3% stake in Orbit Dawn; in January 2026, it increased its investment by about 75 million yuan. However, the company noted in investor surveys that Orbit Dawn’s “sky-sky computing” business might only have clear commercial value in five years, and “ground-sky computing” may take 5-10 years to compete with ground data centers. This statement underscores the long-term nature of the space computing track.

Meanwhile, cross-industry integration is accelerating. In March 2026, Triangle Defense formed a joint venture “Western Aerospace Technology” with Xitec Testing, Ruituo Energy, and Shaanxi Aerospace Institute, with a registered capital of 500 million yuan, covering satellite design, launch, and in-orbit measurement and control.

Industry insiders say that large-scale space computing systems are a new type of space information infrastructure. Their development will lead the industry, creating a commercial closed loop and new industrial chain centered on “computing constellation + reusable rockets.”