Rebirth 99 to become a car giant.

Chapter 965: The First Experiment of the Starship

"Landing on the moon is much more difficult than sending people to the space station."

"If you're not careful, big problems can arise."

Qian Junfeng felt that it would be a good idea for him to give a reminder, so as to avoid Venusstar Technology being poured cold water.

Although Aerospace Technology is to some extent a competitor of Venusstar Technology.

But there is more cooperation than competition between the two sides.

"So we plan to build a lunar orbital space station first, and figure out the atmospheric environment and various conditions on the moon before we proceed with the journey to the moon."

Cao Yang would definitely not change his mind because of Qian Junfeng's persuasion.

Landing on the moon and building a lunar base are projects that Venusstar Technologies had planned long ago.

Now that conditions in all aspects have gradually matured, there is no need to delay any further.

After so many years of accumulation, China's overall industrial strength has now reached the stage of explosive growth.

Especially with the support of Nanshan-based companies, this trend has become even more obvious.

"Boss Cao, isn't this a bit too big a step?"

Seeing that Cao Yang didn't seem to listen to what he said at all, Qian Junfeng became a little anxious.

If Venusstar Technology fails at that time, it will also affect the development of China's entire aerospace industry.

This is certainly not a situation he wants to see.

"Thank you, Mr. Qian, for reminding us. We will definitely conduct various technical confirmations before officially landing on the moon, and we will not take action until we are confident enough."

Cao Yang didn't want to discuss this topic in depth with Qian Junfeng.

Facts speak louder than words.

There is no point in saying more now.

Qian Junfeng was not stupid and knew that he could not persuade Cao Yang.

So I didn’t worry about it anymore.

However, just because he is no longer troubled doesn't mean that others are not troubled too.

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, NASA Administrator Griffin and a group of people from Space Exploration Technologies Corporation were sitting in a conference room discussing this matter.

"Venus Technology is about to start testing the starship. Their progress is much faster than ours."

Relatively speaking, Musk is more concerned about the development of starships.

On the contrary, Musk didn't care that much about the lunar orbital space station.

Because his target has always been Mars, not the moon.

However, Gryffin was more concerned about the situation on the moon.

In particular, Venusstar Technologies has stated that it plans to land on the moon and build a base on the moon in the future.

This matter made him very nervous.

If Venustech's moon landing mission is successful, it will surely be linked together with the previous moon landing missions.

Both America and the polar bears put a lot of publicity effort in this regard back then.

But everything is afraid of comparison. Once there are too many comparisons, some problems cannot be covered up.

Therefore, the best way is to allow the United States to land again, and then many problems can be covered up.

This was obviously not what he wanted to see.

"Venus Technology's starship has only just begun testing, and it will probably take quite a while before it makes its first flight."

"But their lunar orbital space station will be officially established this year, and the next step will definitely be landing on the moon."

“This progress is far beyond our expectations.”

"At present, relevant departments have approved NASA to build a space station again. I think it is necessary to start the moon landing plan again."

Griffin didn't think that Morningstar Technology's starship could be completed so quickly.

After all, no country has ever made such a special rocket in the past.

The key is that this is a reusable rocket, which makes it even more difficult.

"The launch and construction of the space station is not a big problem, but when it comes to landing on the moon, our technical accumulation is basically zero."

Musk told the truth and had no intention of hiding anything.

After all, the time schedule on Venusstar's side is so tight that it is impossible for them to overtake.

If everyone's expectations of SpaceX are too high, he will be under a lot of pressure.

"We at NASA have accumulated the technology to land on the moon."

"However, the specific technical solution still needs to be discussed again."

Griffin has not yet figured out how to convince the relevant departments to approve the moon landing plan.

After all, the cost of this project will definitely not be small.

But its economic significance is difficult to measure after all.

"I think the development of starships is more necessary than the moon landing."

"Venus Technologies is already ahead of us, but we have only just completed the development of the Falcon Heavy rocket, and the development of similar products like Starship has not officially started."

Musk knew that if he didn't fight hard at this time, he would have to work hard according to the development direction that Griffin said in the future.

Once a decision is made on such a general direction, it is very difficult to adjust it.

The most important thing is that the cost of adjustment will be very high.

"The development of the Starship is naturally very important. After all, it can be used not only to explore Mars, but also the moon."

"If we need to build a lunar base in the future, the starship can also play a relatively large role in transporting a large amount of materials to the moon at one time."

Gryffin did not completely deny Musk's statement, which can also be considered a form of conversational art.

Otherwise, if you deny everything others say, it will obviously not be easy to convince the other party.

"However, whether we are heading to Mars or the moon, it would be best if we have our own space station in space, or even a base on the moon and depart from the moon."

“These have all been proven in previous technical verifications.”

Gryffin obviously still wants to follow his own logic, build a space station first, march to the moon, and then talk about Mars.

If we really want to go to Mars, then we can just send a few probes there.

In the short term, it is more reliable to deal with the moon.

"We have already landed on the moon several decades ago, so there is no particular significance for exploration."

"But Mars is different. There is likely to be a large amount of water there. Once this is confirmed, it is likely to become a planet suitable for building a base in the future."

Although countless scientists believe that in the vast universe, there must be planets similar to the Earth that are suitable for human survival.

But the universe is too vast, and humans cannot even get out of the solar system now, so there is really not much point in talking about other things.

Even if there is a place very suitable for human habitation on a planet tens of thousands of light years away, so what?

From the moment you are born until you die you are still on the road and there is no way to reach your destination.

Therefore, before there are more imaginative technological breakthroughs, there is absolutely no hope of settling on planets outside the solar system.

But Mars is different. If you jump and make some effort, you still have the possibility of touching it.

That's why Musk is very active.

He really hopes that he can die on Mars in this life and become one of the first immigrants.

"The funding that relevant departments can provide is relatively limited. We cannot support both the Mars and Moon landing projects at the same time."

"The Chinese are now making every effort to advance towards the moon. We cannot fall behind."

Seeing that he couldn't convince Musk, Gryffin became a little annoyed.

NASA's current strength has declined significantly, and they cannot handle so many things by relying solely on themselves.

So Griffin hopes to get the support of SpaceX, and the two sides can work together to accomplish the lunar exploration.

But Musk has never been very interested.

"We are not behind. We landed on the moon decades ago, but China is still working towards this goal."

Musk's statement left Gryffin at a loss as to how to refute it.

You can't tell Musk that the moon landing was a mixed bag of truth and falsehood, and that many things were not suitable for publicity.

Otherwise, it would be very embarrassing if you accidentally reveal your true identity.

In the end, the matter was definitely not settled.

NASA can only consider the moon landing on its own first, or persuade Musk later.

While America was worried about the actions of Venus Technologies, the European Space Agency was also struggling with what attitude it should take.

"Joseph, do you think it's possible for us to build a space station and launch a moon landing mission like Venustech?"

As the director of the European Space Agency, Werner must consider the long-term development of the agency.

Seeing a new round of competition beginning in the world's aerospace field, it is impossible for Europe to remain indifferent.

"It is difficult for us to develop the Earth orbit space station independently, so we have started cooperation with Venusstar Technology."

"In this case, we have to skip the Earth orbital space station and directly build a lunar orbital space station and land on the moon. This is too difficult."

"It is unlikely that the member states will support investing so much money to develop a technology that has no certainty of success."

Although Joseph was a little unwilling, he also hoped that the European Space Agency could become stronger, but the fact was that it was like that.

As the director of the technical center, he dare not say anything that he cannot do.

Otherwise, there will be countless holes to fill in the future.

"Oh, that's true. In the past, only polar bears and the United States had done things like landing on the moon. Now China is doing it too."

"But it's too difficult for Europe to do it. It's better to cooperate with China."

In 2015, the relationship between China and Europe was quite good.

Even if America wants to pull Europe to suppress China, the effect will not be very good.

So Werner is also willing to cooperate with China.

Or rather, he doesn't have any more choices.

Now only China has officially announced its plan to land on the moon, and not only Venustech is planning to do so, but Aerospace Science and Technology is also doing it.

It can be said that there are two institutions in China that are carrying out the moon landing mission.

This is unprecedented in the world. "We have already cooperated with the Chang'e space station, and the possibility of continuing to cooperate with the lunar orbital space station and the moon landing project is still very high."

"And if you communicate earlier, you may be able to get better conditions."

"Venus Technology doesn't seem to be very opposed to various international collaborations."

After listening to Werner's words, Joseph understood what was going on.

My boss’s ideas are similar to mine, so that’s easy to deal with.

The focus now is how to participate in the actions of Venusstar Technology.

"It just so happens that our cooperation project with the Chang'e Space Station will be officially launched soon. We will go to Venusstar Technology to exchange ideas and discuss cooperation on the lunar orbit space station and moon landing."

"Although we cannot complete these activities by ourselves, we can still provide some equipment or instruments to the other party and play our role, which will make the publicity more attractive."

Werner thought that since he had already figured out what to do, he should act quickly.

Otherwise, who knows who will get there first.

Another company that has a similar idea is the Polar Bear United Rocket and Space Corporation.

"Dmitri, you said that China will build a lunar orbital space station so soon, and will consider landing on the moon next year."

"Does this have anything to do with the rocket engine technology and other things we shared with them before?"

Grogin is in a very complicated mood now.

On the one hand, he envied the rapid development of Venusstar Technology and hoped that Polar Bear could have the same situation.

On the other hand, he felt that the other party's rapid development was partly due to the fact that he had aided the enemy.

In particular, because we did not have enough funds to purchase the other party’s products, we used part of the technology to exchange.

At that time, I felt that those technologies did not have particularly great significance for the polar bears, and they could not be used so quickly in China.

But looking at the current situation, that is not the case at all.

The other party seemed to quickly utilize the technology shared by us and also made innovations.

This is very depressing.

"It's hard to say now. After all, Venustech has only announced some plans but has not specifically demonstrated their various technologies."

"But more or less, there should be some relationship."

Dmitri naturally knew why Grogin asked this.

In the global aerospace industry, the things officially announced by Venusstar Technology are all big events.

The number of rocket launches in 2015 will exceed 200.

This is almost the total number of rocket launches by all countries in the world last year.

Then the testing of the Starship rocket will be started immediately. Although there is still some time before it is officially put into use, it is still a huge breakthrough.

Another thing is the construction of a lunar orbital space station, which also created a world record.

As for the moon landing and lunar base that followed, they were even more full of fantasy.

How many years has it been since humans set foot on the moon?
As a private enterprise in China, Venusstar Technology is planning to develop moon landing and even build a lunar base.

It’s unbelievable when you think about it.

However, few people in the industry dare to come out and deny Venusstar Technology's plan.

After all, all the boasts made by Venustech in the past have now been gradually realized.

Those bigwigs in the industry don't want to be slapped in the face.

"What cooperative attitude do you think we should take in this matter?"

A Starlink satellite system alone has already consumed a huge amount of funds for the United Rocket and Space Corporation. It is absolutely impossible to build a lunar orbital space station and carry out moon landing missions in a short period of time.

Grotin was very sure of this.

Therefore, he did not mention that his company would develop these projects independently.

"Either pretend that nothing happened, or downplay the incident in domestic propaganda."

"Or we can find a way to participate in this project. We still have some technologies that Venusstar Technology is interested in."

"As long as we are willing to bring out some core technologies, we should still be able to get cooperation opportunities."

Grogin did not give a direct answer to Dmitri's question.

Instead, he was thinking about the pros and cons of this matter for the polar bears.

The relationship between the two sides has been getting better and better in recent years, so there will definitely not be any major resistance in the overall environment.

However, as long as the United Rocket and Space Corporation chooses this cooperation, it will probably be even more distant for it to independently develop a lunar orbital space station and moon landing missions in the future.

This impact is something Grotin needs to consider.

"Let's communicate with the relevant departments first to see if we can take this opportunity to get more financial support."

"If there is no more funding, we will come up with a new cooperation plan and contact Venusstar Technology to discuss cooperation between the two sides."

Grotin didn't have much choice.

Venusstar Technology is now ahead of the curve, with both funds and technology.

In this case, the rarity of their technology dropped significantly.

The cards in his hand have become fewer.

……

Some companies can cooperate, but some companies know very well that they have no chance of cooperation.

The Tianzhu Space Research Organization is well aware that Venusstar Technology will never cooperate with them.

They had previously thought about contacting Venusstar Technology, but did not receive any response.

I was completely ignored by others!
"Sharma, you have to speed up your research. We can't let the Chinese pull us too far behind, otherwise we won't be able to report back home."

As the head of the Tianzhu Space Research Organization, Laharl is under a lot of pressure at this time.

He originally thought that with his efforts, the gap between Tianzhu's aerospace technology and China's would become smaller and smaller.

But now it feels like the gap is not narrowing, but widening instead.

This is definitely not the situation they want to see.

"If we just want to launch a satellite to explore the moon, then it may be possible in a few years."

"But building a space station is too difficult and it would be hard to complete it within ten years."

"As for the moon landing, the difficulty of manned moon landing is also very high, but if we just use the lunar orbit satellite to launch a spacecraft to land on the moon, it is still possible to achieve it within ten years."

Sharma is very familiar with the level of India's aerospace technology.

Whether you admit it or not, the gap is definitely huge.

Other people’s space stations are already there to receive passengers, but Tianzhu’s space station hasn’t even finalized the relevant plans, let alone when it can be built.

Building a space station can easily cost tens of billions or even hundreds of billions of dollars.

Even with India's current economic strength, it is simply impossible to come up with so much money to build a space station.

Sharma is also very clear about this.

So even though he really wanted to brag, he still acted honestly in front of his boss who knew the business.

"This may be the truth, but we cannot report it to the relevant departments in this way, nor can we publicize it in this way in the country."

"More often than not, we want to let everyone see the rapid development of Tianzhu in the aerospace industry."

"Many countries in the world, such as Germany, Japan and Korea, are still far behind us in terms of technical capabilities in this area."

"We need to properly adjust some objective situations and publicize them."

When Lahar said this, Sharma understood it immediately.

I don't lie, but I can selectively tell some truths.

It is a fact that India's aerospace technology is better than that of Japan, Korea and Germany.

These countries have strong economic strength and high visibility.

India is stronger than these countries in the field of aerospace, which gives people the illusion that India is stronger than these countries.

This kind of publicity technique is very important.

"I understand. We will arrange some personnel to discuss the next step of publicity later."

If the technology can’t solve it, then we have to think of a way through publicity.

But Cao Yang doesn't care about these things.

Because at this moment, Venusstar Technology is about to officially start its first major project in the new year.

That is the static test of the Starship rocket.

Although it is called a static test, it is not simply a confirmation of the various dimensions of the rocket, but rather a fixation of the rocket on an open-air test bench to formally conduct an ignition test on its engine.

It can be said that except that the rocket does not fly into the sky, the various testing processes are not much different from the first flight.

"Our Starship has a first stage that is about 69 meters high and equipped with a super heavy booster with 33 'Raptor' engines."

"The second stage is a starship spacecraft with a diameter of 9 meters, a length of 50 meters, and equipped with 6 Raptor engines."

"Compared with Venusstar 9, it is an order of magnitude larger, and in terms of payload, Venusstar 23 can carry about 100 tons of cargo to low-Earth orbit, while Starship can carry 150- tons of cargo."

"If Starlink satellites are launched, Venusstar-60 can only launch about 50 each time, and after the second-generation Starlink satellites appear, less than can be launched each time."

"And Starship can launch 360 to 400."

"In terms of cost control, Starship does not have a second-stage rocket that is discarded after ignition."

"Because as just introduced, the Starship rocket consists of two parts, the bottom is the first-stage super heavy booster, and the top is the spacecraft cabin, which is reusable."

"And Venus 9 only recovered the first-stage booster, which is a big difference."

"At the same time, the fuel used by the Starship is liquid oxygen and liquid methane, which are cheaper than the liquid oxygen and kerosene of the Venus 9."

"Starship doesn't have a fairing, and the fairing of Venus 9 is sometimes recovered and sometimes not, and even if it is recovered, there are operating costs."

"So if Starship succeeds, it will definitely be the greatest rocket product on the planet."

Today is the first test of the starship, and Venusstar Technology attaches great importance to it.

Not only Cao Yang came to visit, but many other heads of related companies were also present.

Even the China TV station specially arranged a team of reporters to come for interviews.

In this case, Zhao Siyu must introduce this epoch-making product to everyone.

(End of this chapter)