Shanghai Launches 'Pearl Constellation' Plan for Space-Based AI Computing
On September 13, 2026, at the "Pearl Launch, Intelligent Computing Future" space computing industry forum, Shanghai officially launched the "Pearl Constellation Plan." The initiative sets a long-term goal of building a gigawatt-class space-based computing constellation, aiming to establish globally covered, space-ground collaborative, and independently controllable space intelligent computing infrastructure and service networks by 2030.
The plan is named after Shanghai's iconic Oriental Pearl Tower, symbolizing the city's strategic move into future space computing. It emphasizes the development of a fully domestic technology chain and a self-controllable industrial collaboration system, covering technology R&D, product development, on-orbit verification, constellation construction, and application scenarios.
During the forum, Shanghai Dongfang Tiancai Technology Co., Ltd. led 27 industry partners, including the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites, Shanghai Institute of Space Power Source, Shanghai Satellite Engineering Research Institute, Alibaba Cloud, iFlytek, GCL Photoelectric, Jinko Solar, Trina Solar, Biren Technology, and MetaX, to sign cooperation agreements. The collaboration will focus on computing chips, space energy, inter-satellite communication, satellite platforms, computing payloads, and software services.
The constellation will follow a progressive roadmap of technology verification, capability iteration, and large-scale networking. During the engineering verification phase, Dongfang Tiancai will conduct on-orbit tests of domestic computing payloads, optical computing payloads, and advanced energy systems. After completing these milestones, the project will move to initial satellite deployment and constellation networking, while exploring on-orbit large model deployment, intelligent weather warning, and ground-based agent collaboration.
