Track Hyper | Ideals and Thorns: SHUNHO's Cross-Border Space Computing Power

Author: Zhou Yuan / Wall Street News

When SHUNHO STOCK (002565.SZ) announced an investment of 110 million yuan to participate in the current round of financing for Beijing Guidao Chengguang Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Guidao Chengguang), this seemingly low-key capital operation (the investment amount did not reach the relevant review and disclosure standards) actually contains deep reflections on the company's future development direction.

Behind SHUNHO STOCK's 19.30% stake is not only a consideration of financial investment but also an important attempt for SHUNHO STOCK to seek new growth curves beyond the boundaries of traditional business.

Guidao Chengguang's core business involves deploying computing power satellites in the Earth's dawn and dusk orbits to build space data centers, developing "Sky Computing" and "Ground Computing" businesses; the former focuses on overcoming the challenges of on-orbit data processing for satellites, while the latter aims to leverage the advantages of space data centers to solve ground data processing dilemmas.

Currently, Guidao Chengguang has successfully completed a total of 140 million yuan in financing in the first and additional rounds, with investors including the listed company SHUNHO STOCK and Lenovo Capital.

Guidao Chengguang's layout in the comprehensive application of satellite technology demonstrates insight into industry development trends, with its business covering multiple links such as satellite technology system integration, navigation services, and communication terminal manufacturing and sales, thereby establishing a relatively complete industrial chain participation capability.

In recent years, the global aerospace industry has been undergoing a transformation from "state-led" to "commercial-driven."

According to data from the International Astronautical Federation and several market research institutions, the commercial aerospace market has maintained double-digit growth for five consecutive years.

In such a macro environment, the application scenarios of satellite technology are constantly expanding, gradually extending from traditional communication and navigation to fields such as meteorological monitoring, geological exploration, and agricultural production. Guidao Chengguang relies on its technological accumulation to gradually establish competitive advantages in niche markets, laying the foundation for future development.

Guidao Chengguang's "Sky Computing" business breaks the shackles of traditional satellite data processing models.

In the past, data collected by satellites needed to be transmitted back to ground data centers for processing. This process not only involved time delays but also risked data loss or distortion due to signal interference and transmission distance; however, "Sky Computing" processes data directly on the satellite, significantly shortening the data processing cycle.

For example, in meteorological monitoring, under the traditional model, it could take several hours or even longer to complete the analysis of satellite cloud data from collection to analysis, while the "Sky Computing" model is expected to greatly compress this time, making meteorological warnings more timely and accurate.

In the field of remote sensing monitoring, faster data processing capabilities can achieve high-frequency monitoring of surface changes, providing richer data support for urban planning and resource management.

However, this business is expected to realize commercial value only within the next five years and still needs to overcome multiple challenges such as technological maturity, cost control, and market acceptance.

As global data volumes grow exponentially, ground data centers face issues such as high energy consumption, difficult heat dissipation, and limited deployment space. Guidao Chengguang's "Ground Computing" business expands the data processing scenario to space data centers.

Space data centers have nearly unlimited solar energy supply and natural heat dissipation advantages, theoretically providing continuous and stable energy support for large-scale computing tasks while reducing delays caused by cross-border data transmission In the field of autonomous driving, if massive road test data can be efficiently processed in space data centers, it may accelerate the iteration and upgrade of autonomous driving algorithms.

However, the construction and operation of space data centers currently face many technical challenges, such as the impact of the space environment on equipment and the stability of data transmission between space and Earth.

In the next 5-10 years, whether this business can form a competitive strength against ground data centers depends on the speed of technological breakthroughs and the innovation of business models.

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket." This classic investment adage aptly explains the strategic intent behind SHUNHO STOCK's recent investment.

SHUNHO STOCK's original business focused on special environmental protection paper, printed materials, industrial hemp processing, and new tobacco products. Although it occupies a certain share in each of its respective niche markets, it also faces risks such as intensified market competition and changes in industry policies.

By investing in Orbital Chuangguang, SHUNHO STOCK is entering the emerging track of satellite technology and space computing power, achieving a diversified business layout.

Although there has not yet been a significant business synergy between the two parties, in the long run, the application potential of satellite technology in logistics monitoring, production environment monitoring, and other areas is expected to complement SHUNHO STOCK's traditional business. The experience and resources accumulated by SHUNHO STOCK in the capital market may also provide support for the business expansion of Orbital Chuangguang.

The capital marriage between SHUNHO STOCK and Orbital Chuangguang reflects the complex situation of irrational prosperity and rational pragmatism coexisting in the commercial space investment field.

On one hand, the investment return rate in the global commercial space sector has dropped to 8.3% in the past two years (data source: Statista), below the average level of the high-tech industry (12.5%) (data source: Goldman Sachs), yet capital continues to flow in.

Behind this contradictory phenomenon is investors' belief in the "Metcalfe's Law" of the space economy: as the density of space infrastructure increases, its network value will grow exponentially.

On the other hand, companies like Orbital Chuangguang must be aware that the current commercial space market is still in the transition phase of "technology validation - market cultivation," with a significant gap between customer willingness to pay and technological maturity.

According to statistics from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, less than 15% of commercial space projects have truly achieved profitability, and most companies are still burning cash to gain market share.

The ultimate success or failure of this investment depends not only on the speed of technological breakthroughs at Orbital Chuangguang but also tests SHUNHO STOCK's strategic determination and resource integration capabilities.

At the crossroads of technological revolution and industrial transformation, there is no standard answer for the transformation of traditional enterprises. Only by maintaining a keen sense of new technologies under the premise of controllable risks can they find a certain growth path in an uncertain future