Zhongke Tiansuan Completes Hundreds of Millions of Yuan in Angel+ Round of Financing, and the Ten-Thousand-Card Space Supercomputing Center is Planned to be Completed by 2030 | First Report by 36Kr

Text | Azhi

36Kr learned that "Zhongke Tiansuan", a provider of space-based intelligent computing and application systems, announced the completion of a 100-million-yuan Angel + round of financing. This round of financing was jointly invested by Shanghai Future Industry Fund, SMIC Juyuan, Shenzhen Capital Group, Tsinghua Alumni Seed Fund, Gewuzhizhi Private Equity Fund, Infinite Fund SEE Fund, Hongtai Fund, Innoangel Fund, Chuanxiang Investment, and Plum Ventures.

It is reported that the funds raised in this round will be mainly used for promoting the implementation of Zhongke Tiansuan's strategic project, the "Tiansuan Plan", accelerating the in-orbit verification of space supercomputing nodes, strengthening the R & D and system optimization of space intelligent computing and supercomputing technologies, and promoting the continuous upgrading of space computing infrastructure.

Zhongke Tiansuan was founded in June 2024 and is an enterprise that 36Kr has been following for a long time. It is committed to building "space-based computing infrastructure and a fulcrum for space computing services". It focuses on breaking through the core technologies of "supercomputing in space" and "AI for Space", and establishing a software and hardware system and application service ecosystem for space intelligent computing.

Schematic diagram of the space supercomputing node of the "Tiansuan Plan"

The company's founder is currently a doctor from the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the leader in the field of space-based computing. He also serves as the deputy secretary-general of the CCF Fault-Tolerant Computing Special Committee and has been deeply involved in the design and demonstration of multiple satellite Internet systems, standard design, and equipment development in China. The core members come from the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the aerospace department, Huawei, Zhejiang University, and Zhijiang Laboratory, etc., and have the complete technical link ability from the underlying computing architecture to the space-level system engineering.

Currently, space computing power has become a cutting - edge technology track that is being competed for globally, and its core drivers come from multiple pressures and breakthroughs. First, the demand for AI computing power has increased sharply, and ground - based computing centers are facing challenges such as energy consumption, heat dissipation, and land resources. The construction of a space supercomputing center supported by space solar energy is a very attractive green solution. Second, the construction of remote - sensing satellite constellations is about to enter a stage of large - scale explosion, but the traditional "space - sensing and ground - computing" model has problems such as inability to transmit data back and high latency. In - orbit processing can save a large amount of satellite - ground link resources and improve the response ability. In addition, the continuous breakthroughs in rocket recovery technology are bringing the economic cost of space deployment to the critical point of commercialization.

Overall, the space supercomputing center has unique advantages in solar energy acquisition, global deployment, inter - satellite collaboration, near - source processing of remote - sensing data, and real - time services for the integration of space, air, and ground, and is considered an important information and communication infrastructure in the future.

Zhongke Tiansuan plans to build a ten - thousand - card - level space supercomputing center in 2030, which is the "Tiansuan Plan" mentioned above - by building a space computing power network with a ten - thousand - card - level space supercomputer as the core and distributed edge computing nodes operating in coordination, it breaks through the limitations of ground - based computing centers in terms of energy consumption, cooling, and space.

It is reported that the system consists of more than 10 nodes and is equipped with three core modules: the energy module, the computing power module, and the communication module: The energy module uses a 1 - square - kilometer solar cell array with a total installed power of over 100 megawatts. The computing power module is composed of a high - integrated computing power board array, equipped with over 10,000 domestic high - performance computing cards, with a designed total computing power of 10 EOPS (exa - operations per second), and supports in - orbit upgrade and fault - redundant replacement. The communication module is equipped with over 100 high - power laser communicators, with a total communication capacity of 10 Tbps (terabits per second), enabling two - way satellite - ground communication, inter - satellite forwarding, and distributed data broadcasting.

Currently, Zhongke Tiansuan has developed a prototype of a space - based supercomputing node based on a multi - card full - size GPU architecture, using domestic high - performance GPUs, and breaking through the single - machine performance bottleneck of space - based computing through a scalable card - group computing architecture. It is reported that this prototype will be launched into orbit in the second half of this year to conduct key technology verification for the "Tiansuan Plan".

The founder said that in the future, Zhongke Tiansuan will increase R & D investment in space intelligent computing and space supercomputing capabilities, promote the continuous upgrading of space computing infrastructure, accelerate the productization and engineering process of the "Aurora" on - board intelligent computing payload, and ensure that the next - generation space - level computing system can meet the growing market demand.

It is worth noting that with the accelerated rise and verification of cutting - edge concepts, the cross - field technology integration and industrial ecosystem co - construction are also continuously deepening.

Recently, Zhongke Tiansuan and Yanhe Technology, a company engaged in the R & D of perovskite solar cell components, officially signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement, announcing the joint establishment of a joint laboratory for space computing power and energy, focusing on the in - depth integration of space - air intelligent computing and advanced photovoltaic energy, and comprehensively promoting the "Tiansuan Plan".

This also means that human development of space has shifted from single - point technology breakthroughs to systematic collaboration across the aerospace, energy, and information technology fields. The construction of a diversified industrial ecosystem will also promote the accelerated transformation of space infrastructure from a "functional single unit" to an "energy - computing power integrated system".

Views of Investment Institutions

Shanghai Future Industry Fund said: "Space - based computing is a key cutting - edge technology direction for the integrated development of future space and future information. Since its establishment, Shanghai Future Industry Fund has carried out systematic industry research, proactively laid out the space - based computing track, and is committed to discovering excellent entrepreneurial teams that can solve key industry pain points and have core competitiveness. In the first round, the fund collaborated with the project manager team of the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission to jointly invest in and incubate Zhongke Tiansuan. In the subsequent second and third rounds of financing, the fund, together with its sub - funds and multiple market - oriented institutions, continued to increase investment and provide in - depth support. We hope that Zhongke Tiansuan will follow in the footsteps of its predecessors and become the 'Shuguang, Hygon, and Cambricon in the space - based field', and set an industry benchmark in the new infrastructure field of space computing power."

Gao Yonggang, the chairman of SMIC Juyuan, said: "Computing power goes into space, and everything has its own calculation. The integration of heaven and earth has broad prospects. We firmly believe in this strategic track and are optimistic about the long - term in - depth development and comprehensive advantages of the Zhongke Tiansuan team in the field of space - based supercomputing, and will help build the integrated heaven - earth computing power system."

The team of Shenzhen Capital Group said: "Space computing power, as an important information infrastructure strategy of the country, deserves continuous support. As the industry leader, Zhongke Tiansuan is the national team in the field of space - based computing, with profound scientific research accumulation and engineering capabilities, solid in - orbit verification, clear commercialization path, and steady business progress."

The Tsinghua Alumni Seed Fund said: "Based on the years of accumulation of the Institute of Computing Technology, the Zhongke Tiansuan team has a profound understanding, rich technology stack, product service system, and unique engineering experience in space computing infrastructure. The company has assembled an interdisciplinary and comprehensive team of talents from the computing, aerospace, and communication industries. We believe it will play a significant role in space computing infrastructure. With the rapid increase in space computing demand, from space - based computing to ground - based computing with space - based support, the demand for computing infrastructure will grow rapidly, and the Zhongke Tiansuan team is expected to solve the fundamental problems."

The team of Infinite Fund SEE Fund said: "We believe that China's space launch capabilities will achieve leap - forward development, and satellite systems will become more universal and intelligent, providing stronger support for scientific research, industrial applications, and civil services. As a fundamental strategic capability, space computing power will also usher in unprecedented development opportunities. The whole society will surely concentrate its efforts to promote innovation and breakthroughs in space computing technology, build a space computing ecosystem, and provide solid support for the country's scientific and technological innovation and economic and social development."

Yu Yang, the managing director of Hongtai Fund, said: "Space computing is a track that we have been systematically laying out. Zhongke Tiansuan originated from the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and undertakes many important national tasks in this field. Since 2019, it has started full - stack self - research and technology verification and has an obvious first - mover advantage. Currently, the enterprise has a full range of on - board computers and supporting modules, operating systems, algorithm libraries for different scenarios, and application development platforms. Its products have had many successful cases of entering orbit and operating stably in orbit. In the future, we look forward to the Tiansuan team seizing the opportunities of the era and becoming the infrastructure for space - based computing."

The Innoangel Fund team said: "Relying on the research capabilities of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhongke Tiansuan has profound technical accumulation in the future computing direction and provides an overall solution for space computing power. It is leading the industry in aspects such as space computing power chips and computing power deployment environments and will contribute to the evolution and development of AI computing infrastructure."

Zhang Chuanzheng, the general manager and partner of Chuanxiang Investment, said: "The core of the 1.0 era of commercial aerospace was to solve the problem of sending satellites into space. However, as the number of satellites in space increases and their functions become more powerful, the massive data generated by numerous satellites and the geometric growth of processing difficulties have put great pressure on the traditional satellite - ground data transmission mode and ground - based data processing centers. The solution is the deployment of space computing power and the assistance of artificial intelligence, which is the new 2.0 era of commercial aerospace. We hope that Zhongke Tiansuan will lead the future in this new era and become the vanguard of the 2.0 era of commercial aerospace."

The Plum Ventures team said: "We warmly congratulate Zhongke Tiansuan on completing the Angel + round of financing. As the earliest investor in Tiansuan, Plum Ventures has accompanied the enterprise through its transformation and growth. Zhongke Tiansuan has been continuously innovating and iterating rapidly in the directions of 'space computing power' and 'application ecosystem' and is expected to become the builder of the first ten - thousand - card - level space supercomputing center. We look forward to the Tiansuan team continuing to evolve and achieving greater success."