Space 'gas station'

Chinese commercial space enterprises are also pushing the boundaries of in-orbit capabilities.

A prime example is the Yuxing-3 06 satellite, recently launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China. It carried out a series of complex in-orbit operations hundreds of kilometers above the Earth, including simulated propellant refueling tasks using a robotic arm.

Developed by Suzhou Sanyuan Aerospace Technology Co, a subsidiary of Beijing Aerospace Yuxing Technology, the satellite is intended to serve as a "space gas station".

Equipped with a flexible robotic arm, it is China's first commercial experimental satellite designed to perform high-difficulty in-orbit operations.

Chen Jing, chief technology officer of Sustain Space, said the satellite utilizes three control modes for refueling: autonomous path planning, remote manual control, and visual servo-guided docking.

Cao Meng, vice-president of Beijing Aerospace Yuxing Technology, envisions a future where satellites swiftly locate targets, perform precise docking, and refuel them. "We hope to build the future 'Space 4S shop' to provide one-stop maintenance and repair solutions for space assets," Cao said.

Meanwhile, computing power is also heading to the stars.

In a low-Earth orbit approximately 500 km above the ground, 12 computing satellites are operating to form a space computing network. Spearheaded by the Zhijiang Lab, this "Three-Body Computing Constellation" aims to bring artificial intelligence directly to space.

Wang Jian, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the Zhijiang Lab, said nearly 90 percent of satellite data is currently discarded before reaching the ground due to limited onboard processing. By deploying AI models in orbit, the constellation can process data locally.

The team has already successfully deployed 10 AI models in orbit, including an 8-billion-parameter space-based remote sensing model 80, and a 150-million parameter Fuxi weather model 1.5, ensuring data timeliness for critical applications like disaster relief and urban governance.

Technological innovation is also driving the efficiency of communication payloads.

Lin, from GalaxySpace, highlighted the development of payloads using the Q/V band, which combines the Q and V bands to cover frequencies from 47 to 52 gigahertz, more than doubling the bandwidth of current satellite systems.

Lin compared traditional frequency bands to congested city streets and the Q/V band to a new, wider superhighway essential for high-speed satellite internet.

GalaxySpace has developed its fourth-generation Q/V antenna, reducing its weight from over 7 kg to just 3.2 kg, allowing engineers to stack more satellites inside a single rocket fairing, or protective shell. In September, the company also launched the world's first satellite equipped with large flexible solar wings.

These breakthroughs are being tested in the Little Spider Web, China's first low-Earth-orbit broadband trial constellation. The network has verified the ability to provide continuous broadband communications for 30 minutes at a time. It has successfully conducted tests in diverse environments, from verifying power grid connectivity in Yunnan province to enabling maritime emergency communications. Through satellite internet, drones have successfully conducted firefighting missions, and humanoid robots have achieved "remote perception" via synchronized visual data transmission.

Tian Feng, deputy director of the technology research and development center at the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said low-Earth orbit satellites act as a space-based information highway, eliminating "information silos" in deserts and oceans.

Li Xiayu, chief engineer at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, said satellite communications are accelerating their expansion into consumer fields like smartphones and smart vehicles, opening new consumer markets.