As China-US space race heats up, Shanghai unveils space-computing hub

As China ramps up its efforts to build an orbital data ecosystem and counter the US in the commercial space race, Shanghai – home to several major domestic players – has kicked off an inaugural space-computing forum alongside a new industry hub.The dedicated centre in the city’s southwestern Songjiang district, unveiled at the forum on Sunday, brought together aerospace developers, semiconductor makers, artificial intelligence specialists, cloud vendors, as well as researchers and investors to advance in-orbit data processing, local news outlet Shanghai Observer reported.Space computing enables satellites to analyse data in orbit, reducing the need to transmit raw files back to ground stations and speeding up real-time intelligence. More ambitious long-term plans envision orbital data centres powered by solar energy to ease pressure on land-based power grids.Songjiang, which has made commercial space a focal point of its development guidelines, is already a vital link in China’s satellite supply chain. The district is home to SpaceSail, the Shanghai government-backed firm building Qianfan – China’s main low-Earth-orbit challenger to US giant SpaceX’s Starlink.Having launched over 200 satellites to date, SpaceSail aims to deploy a 15,000-satellite mega-constellation by the end of 2030.A Long March-8 carrier rocket blasts off from the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site in south China’s Hainan, June 5, 2026. Photo: XinhuaSongjiang is also home to satellite manufacturers including Gesi Aerospace and Xuntian Qianhe, as well as the Shanghai Aerospace Precision Machinery Research Institute.