China Becomes First to Successfully Launch AI Satellites, Sends 12 into Orbit

Chinese media outlets, including Xinhua News Agency, reported that China has become the first country in the world to successfully launch an artificial intelligence (AI) satellite.

According to reports on May 17, China launched 12 satellites into orbit using a Long March-2D carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province, located in the northwest, on May 14.

This satellite cluster was launched as part of the world's first space AI computing project, the "Three-Body Computing Satellite Cluster." The project's goal is to launch and connect a total of 2,800 satellites, achieving a combined computing power of 1,000 petaflops (PF). A petaflop refers to the ability to perform one quadrillion calculations per second.

Wang Jian, director of the Zhejiang Research Institute, which developed the satellites, stated, "The goal of this project is to overcome the bottleneck in traditional satellite data processing and to advance AI application and development in space."

China expects that this project will support real-time decision-making for lunar bases to be constructed in the future. In addition, China is aiming to secure a leading position in the space economy market, which is expected to reach $1 trillion (approximately 1,400 trillion won) by 2026.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.