Date: August 31, 2026
Source: Science and Technology Daily, Xinhua News Agency
BEIJING — Led by Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT), the world’s‑first commercially‑oriented space‑based computing cloud has officially entered routine on‑orbit service, marking the dawn of commercial space cloud‑computing era.
Composed of an on‑orbit service platform, ground‑station platform and operation hub, the infrastructure runs an independently‑developed space‑operating system. It connects satellites, in‑orbit servers and ground‑based computing scheduling systems, delivering an end‑to‑end automated workflow covering task arrangement, computation and data feedback.
Global research institutes and commercial clients can now access one‑stop services including task deployment, on‑orbit computing and result download, without launching dedicated satellites of their own.
Since trial operation, the cloud has supported multiple experiments in big‑data processing, 6G communication research and space‑distributed storage. It has completed hundreds of on‑orbit computing tasks and served over 100 users, drawing researchers across more than 50 countries and regions into its ecosystem.
Industry observers comment that the milestone builds reusable orbital digital infrastructure. Satellites will evolve from simple data‑collecting hardware into intelligent space nodes, unlocking fresh growth opportunities for commercial aerospace, satellite internet, space‑ground AI integration and emergency communications.