A Long March 2D carrier rocket carrying a space computing satellite constellation blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China, May 14, 2025. [Photo by Wang Jiangbo/For chinadaily.com.cn]

The initial satellites provide a combined computing power of 5 POPS and 30 terabytes of storage capacity. They are equipped with on-board intelligent computing and inter-satellite communication systems, and have the capability of in-orbit computing in space.

The launch also carried an X-ray polarization detector developed by Guangxi University and the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which will be used to study gamma-ray bursts.

Zhejiang Lab said it plans to collaborate with partners to deploy a constellation of more than 50 computing satellites this year.