Space computing power has recently attracted much attention from the industry. At the recently held 2026 Space Computing Industry Conference, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology clearly stated that it will support relevant units to carry out forward-looking research on space computing technology, consolidate the foundation of industrial development, accelerate technology iteration and business cycle through scenario based applications, and promote the ecological cultivation of the space computing industry. At the same time, the establishment of China's first space computing industry collaborative platform, the "Space Computing Professional Committee," marks a new stage of collaborative development for China's space computing industry. What is space computing power? Its essence is to rely on space technology, deploy computing systems, data storage systems, and high-speed data interconnection facilities in orbit, and build a new type of space information infrastructure that integrates computing power, storage power, and transportation capacity. Simply put, it means transferring data centers and AI computing capabilities to satellites, allowing them to directly process data in space without the need to transmit everything back to the ground. In the past, satellites were only responsible for collecting data and then handing it over to the ground for processing. Now, with computing chips and AI brains, satellites can analyze and make decisions on their own, greatly reducing transmission pressure and significantly improving real-time information processing. Compared to ground-based computing power centers, space computing power centers can provide comprehensive coverage of computing power services, with particularly outstanding real-time data processing capabilities. Space computing power mainly includes three modes, namely day to day calculation, earth to day calculation, and coordinated calculation between heaven and earth. Among them, the calculation of days can process data collected from space in orbit and only transmit important results; The advantage of space computing power can be utilized to process data uploaded from the ground in just a few days; Collaborative computing between heaven and earth builds a global distributed computing power network to achieve efficient complementarity. Although the ground computing power center has stable operations, it is limited by geographical conditions and difficult to cover remote areas. Space computing power precisely compensates for this shortcoming. Why promote computing power to the sky? Many people may wonder why it is necessary to expend energy and resources to transfer computing power to space when ground data center technology is mature and cost-effective. Isn't this a case of sacrificing proximity for distance? Firstly, it should be clarified that the development of space computing power is not to replace ground computing power, but to form a complementary pattern between the two, and to construct a computing power system that covers the entire area and combines speed and slowness. For example, ground computing power is more suitable for stable and persistent large-scale computing, while space computing power can meet the real-time computing needs of remote and emergency scenarios. The two work together to make the layout of computing power more scientific. It should also be noted that ground computing power has its limitations. Ground data centers are mostly concentrated in densely populated and well-equipped areas, with coverage blind spots for marine, desert, high-altitude and other scenarios; If all the massive data collected by satellites are transmitted back to the ground for processing, it not only occupies a large amount of communication bandwidth, but also generates high latency, which cannot meet the needs of disaster warning, real-time scheduling of aviation and navigation, and other scenarios. In addition, ground computing power is susceptible to external factors such as geological disasters, resulting in insufficient stability in extreme situations. Space computing power is expensive at the "starting price" and saves on "long-term expenses". In the early stage, the costs of satellite launch and hardware manufacturing are indeed high, but space computing power relies on solar power supply and natural heat dissipation in a vacuum environment, which can significantly reduce energy consumption expenses, and in orbit data processing greatly saves transmission bandwidth. With the maturity and large-scale implementation of technology, significant cost advantages will be formed in energy, transmission, and coverage, making up for the shortcomings of high ground computing power consumption, expensive heat dissipation, and incomplete coverage, and creating more value. According to calculations, the deployment cost of space data centers can rival that of ground data centers in about 15 years. Deploying space computing power is also a key measure to seize the commanding heights of future industries. As the saying goes, "the end of AI is computing power." Currently, the demand for computing power in fields such as artificial intelligence, autonomous driving, and remote sensing monitoring is exploding exponentially, and space computing power is seen as an important support for new computing power systems. China is the first country to achieve in orbit networking and operation of space computing constellations. It has taken the lead in engineering practice and commercial landing speed in the world, and is in the "first tier" of the global space computing power track. Deploying space computing power can not only broaden the supply boundary of computing power, but also promote the deep integration of aerospace technology and digital economy, shaping new advantages for Chinese manufacturing. The rise of computing power is not about sacrificing proximity for distance, but rather a strategic choice for Chinese manufacturing to sprint towards the future. Relying on its first mover advantage and industrial accumulation, facing challenges such as chip performance and inter satellite communication, Chinese manufacturing will write a new chapter in the space race. (New Society)