China’s space station establishes new standards in chip testing: NASA vs. Tiangong

China is using the Tiangong space station to concurrently test more than 100 computer chips, taking its semiconductor rivalry into space. According to a South China Morning Post story, this program has successfully tested more than 20 state-of-the-art chips, outperforming the technical capabilities of chips that other countries are already using in space.

China’s recently tested processors are much more sophisticated than those of NASA, which are still based on antiquated 250-nanometer technology. One example of this is the RAD750 processor in the James Webb Space Telescope.
According to the SCMP story, these chips, which are wholly designed and produced in China, run on the locally created SpaceOS, a prevalent system in China’s space activities.
China Academy of Space Technology’s Liu Hongjin is leading the project, which intends to use the space station for comprehensive chip testing. This is considered as a crucial step toward China’s aspirational space ambitions. During typical supply trips, this method enables the covert testing of several new chips for both military and civilian applications, with the option to transmit data back to Earth or return the chips in person for further research.
China’s space-grade semiconductors are expected to undergo a considerable technological advancement and lower research and development expenses as a result of this extensive orbital testing. Nevertheless, specifics about the creators, architectures, and performance metrics of the chips are still unknown.
When it comes to performing sensitive chip testing outside the constraints of the International Space Station’s strict information-sharing regulations and ban on military technology trials, China’s self-sufficient space station has a number of advantages over the ISS.
China now wants to compete with commercial space companies like SpaceX, as opposed to NASA’s recent attempt to build a new, far quicker semiconductor for critical space missions. The difficulty is to strike a balance between the use of cutting-edge technology such as artificial intelligence and the susceptibility of heavily transistorized processors to cosmic high-energy particles, a condition referred to as a “single-event upset.”
As part of its goal, China is testing a lot on space stations in order to develop cutting-edge protective technologies and create a competitive market for chip vendors. This strategy is anticipated to support China’s manufacturing of a new generation of space chips, mostly using established 28–16 nanometer techniques, and satisfy the growing demand for high-quality, reasonably priced space chips on a worldwide scale.