China successfully launched two satellites by a rocket for its indigenous BeiDou Navigation Satellite System on July 25. This is the first time that China has equipped the satellites and rocket with its homegrown aerospace-level CPU. 

Without the protection of the atmosphere, integrated circuits are vulnerable to cosmic rays. Therefore, radiation hardening technique becomes the crucial point in aerospace science. 

These made-in-China circuits are very advanced as they are radiation hardened in design instead of in manufacturing. So far China has produced more than 200 types of radiation hardened integrated circuits.

The homegrown radiation hardened CPU has taken China more than ten years to invent and is regarded as a landmark in China’s aerospace engineering.