According to scientists directly participating in the Chinese off -site chip program, China Tiangong Space Station can now test more than 100 computer processors at the same time. More than 20 new high -performance chips spanning the range of 28 to 16 nanometers have passed the test. They are much more advanced than chips used in other countries in space.
NASA said the chip currently used in space is based on technology 30 years ago. For example, the RAD750 processor used in James Weber Space Telescope (the most powerful space telescope launched in 2021) is manufactured by outdated 250 nanometer technology. The clock frequency is only 118 MHz, and less than 118 MHz. a small part. Typical smartphone chip.
Scientists said that the chips tested on Tiangong were completely designed and manufactured in China. During the test, they run on the SpaceOS operating system developed independently in China, which is widely used in Chinese space stations and other space facilities.
The project team led by Liu Hongjin (transliteration) of the Chinese Academy of Space Technology stated in a peer review paper that it is expected that more domestic chip manufacturers will queue up to allow their top products to receive strict space tests. Published in the Chinese academic journal "Aerospace Environmental Engineering" in December.
Large -scale chip testing on the rail is a difficult and challenging task, but it is essential for China's rapidly growing space ambitions.
According to Liu's team, the scale of Tiangong's work is much larger than the previous satellite carrying test platform in China.
In the routine replenishment mission of the space station, a large number of new chips of civilian or military secrets can be used to enter the space, and the astronauts are installed outside the space station to perform strict radiation tests in space.
These chips must run various software programs, and the generated data can be transmitted back to the earth through the powerful communication system of the space station. If necessary, these chips can return to the earth with astronauts for further in -depth testing.
Liu and his colleagues of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation said that this large -scale test can quickly improve technology and reduce the research and development costs of Chinese aerospace -level chips. However, they did reveal the chip manufacturers, design details and performance parameters.
This is the benefit of fully built space stations. Although the International Space Station (ISS) is larger than the Tiangong, it can perform similar experiments, but its rules stipulate that the 15 countries participating in the 15 countries have the right to understand the detailed information sent to the international space station. This will bring the chip with the chip with It is inconvenient to involve national security and technical secret testing.
The International Space Station Articles of Association also clearly prohibits military technology -related experiments. In 2017, a Russian cargo spacecraft was questioned by NASA and the US media for unknown equipment.
It was not until last year that the NASA finally decided to let the two private contractors design and manufacture important space tasks such as the Mars and Mars exploration for their future manned moonlin and manufacturing. This new chip is based on the open source RISC-V architecture. The speed will be 100 times faster than the previous processor. It is expected to enter space next year.
China believes that its greatest competition pressure is no longer from NASA, but a private space company represented by SpaceX. For example, the star chain satellite uses a large number of cheap commercial chips due to the large demand and short life span. According to Liu's thesis, Chinese aerospace engineers have fallen into the contradiction between progress and caution.
They eagerly adopt advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and eager for new space applications. However, as the number of crystals on the chip increases, they become more vulnerable to attack by high -energy particles in the universe. This phenomenon is called "single event flip", which will affect the accuracy of calculation and information storage.
Liu said that China's goal is to develop a variety of high -performance chips so that it can run stable and reliable on the orbit for a long time.
Scientists predict that combining anti -radiation design, optimizing layout and improvement of quality may face potential challenges such as single -particle disturbances.
However, as Liu's team proved, space radiation could not be completely copied on the earth. Sometimes, hooligan high -energy particles will break through multi -layer defense and hit the transistor from an unpredictable angle. This situation may occur every few months or several times a day, which is a difficult task for chip designers.
Researchers said that large -scale testing on the space station will help China develop advanced protection technologies, and allows as many suppliers to compete as possible on an equal platform instead of choosing the supplier first, and then testing its chip.
China's new generation of aerospace chips is mainly produced in mature processes such as 28 -nanometer to 16 nanometers. China has a large number of deep ultraviolet light carvings, so that it can produce a large number of chips at low cost.
It plans to build a satellite Internet constellation comparable to the star chain. Chinese satellites not only have communication functions, but also carry sensors to monitor Earth and space.
Some Chinese aerospace experts believe that in the next few years, the global demand for high -performance and low -cost aerospace -level chips will grow in explosive.
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