Super Copy of Great Power Technology

Seeing the second-stage rocket fall and explode, Qiao Ruida was stunned for only a moment, then he calmly ordered, "Start the fire-fighting system and put out the fire in the rocket recovery site first. The satellite flight control team will continue to test the flight control and orbit adjustment of the No. 1 satellite. Others will start to handle the follow-up work, check the status information of the first-stage rocket, collect the remaining parts of the second-stage rocket, and find the cause of the accident."

Following Qiao Ruida's orders, everyone quickly regained their composure and began to deal with the follow-up matters in an orderly manner. The automatic fire-extinguishing sprinklers buried in the rocket recovery site began to work, spraying a large amount of foam, and extinguished all the flames that ignited after the second-stage rocket exploded. After confirming that there were no more safety hazards, Ruida Aerospace's engineers and staff walked out of the underground bunker and came to the rocket recovery site to clean up the mess.

"Dear viewers in the live broadcast room, in the past three hours, we have witnessed the first launch and recovery process of the Suzaku rocket. Although the recovery of the second-stage rocket was not successful at the last moment, the flaws did not outweigh the merits. The Suzaku rocket is still a technologically advanced, safe and reliable launch vehicle. Now the Suzaku rocket has successfully sent a satellite into the predetermined orbit, and the recovery of the first-stage rocket has also been successful. This rocket launch has created many international and domestic firsts and will be recorded in the history of spaceflight forever. OK, today's live broadcast is over now, goodbye everyone."

After Du Qingqing's closing remarks, the live broadcast of the rocket launch came to an end. The live broadcast began to replay the live broadcast video in the live broadcast room, and the number of people online began to drop rapidly, and soon there were only one or two million people left. At the same time, many news headlines such as "Rui Da Aerospace successfully launched a rocket", "Suzaku rocket launched successfully, the first stage was successfully recovered, setting a record", and "Rui Da Aerospace has completed the development of methane fuel rockets and rocket recovery technology" appeared on major forums, social software, and self-media platforms. The related topics even rushed to the hot search for a time, but the ranking was relatively low and did not cause much sensation.

Half an hour later, Ruida Aerospace held a brief press conference in the conference room. More than a dozen media reporters, including CCTV, attended the press conference.

At the beginning of the press conference, Cao Yifei announced on behalf of Ruida Aerospace: "At 1 o'clock this afternoon, our Ruida Aerospace independently developed methane fuel recoverable rocket Suzaku-1, carried out a full-process launch and recovery test. The launch process was a perfect success, and a navigation and communication satellite independently developed by Ruida Research Institute was successfully sent into the planned orbit. The recovery process was partially successful, specifically, the first-stage rocket was successfully recovered, but the second-stage rocket failed to be recovered. Overall, this was a fairly successful launch, which basically achieved our predetermined goals and obtained a large amount of first-hand data on rocket launch and recovery, which provided a good reference for Ruida Aerospace to continue to improve the Suzaku carrier rocket and develop more advanced aircraft."

"Wow, wow, wow" a burst of sparse applause broke out at the scene. There were only a dozen reporters attending the press conference, so they couldn't make much noise.

"Okay, that's all I have to say. Now we will move on to the question and answer session. Dear journalists, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask."

As soon as Cao Yifei announced the start of the question-and-answer session, a large number of arms were raised from the audience. Almost all the reporters raised their hands. Cao Yifei directly pointed to a CCTV reporter and said, "The first opportunity to ask questions will be given to this CCTV reporter friend."

"Hello, Mr. Cao, first of all, congratulations to your company, Ruida Airlines, for completing a great rocket launch test. Secondly, I would like to ask, what was the reason for the failure of the recovery of the second-stage rocket?" After standing up, the female reporter from CCTV first said a compliment, and then directly asked her question, which was to the point.

"Thank you. From the data analysis we have at present, the failure of the second-stage rocket recovery is likely caused by the improper installation of the thermal insulation material or the unqualified thermal insulation material. From the previous live broadcast images, you can also see that during the recovery of the second-stage rocket, it will go through a black barrier stage of about five minutes. During this period, the rocket descends at an extremely fast speed and rubs violently with the air, which will generate a temperature of thousands of degrees Celsius. If there are quality problems with the thermal insulation material, or it is not covered in place, it will burn important components and cause accidents. During the recovery of the second-stage rocket this time, the direct cause was that one of the hydraulic support legs did not open, which eventually caused the rocket to tilt and explode. Further investigation showed that it was a hydraulic pipeline failure that caused one of the support legs to not open. The hydraulic pipeline failure was most likely caused by the lack or failure of the thermal insulation material, and the continuous high temperature burned the sealing ring.

The next question is for you, the lady with glasses on the right."

"Hello, Mr. Cao, I'm a reporter from Science and Technology Daily. The Suzaku rocket developed by your Ruida Aerospace has achieved initial success. Will you undertake external satellite launch missions? How much does it cost to launch a satellite?" A young lady in red clothes stood up and asked.

"We are a commercial aerospace company, so we have to undertake satellite launch business, which is also one of our main sources of income. Since we have initially mastered rocket recovery technology, the launch cost has been greatly reduced, and the price of undertaking satellite launch business is much cheaper than that of other companies. For a single satellite, the charges are different depending on the weight and the orbit it enters. If it is a low-Earth orbit satellite, the initial price is about US$2000 per kilogram. When the subsequent technology matures, the cost of satellite launch will drop further.

Next, you, the guy in blue over there, you ask the question."

"Hello, Mr. Qiao, I am a reporter from NetEase News. May I ask if Ruida Aerospace has any plans to develop heavy and super-heavy rockets in the future?"

Cao Yifei was not easy to answer this question, because although he was the general manager of Ruida Aerospace, he was only a manager, not the one who made the R&D plan. Seeing his embarrassment, Qiao Ruida, who had been sitting on the rostrum and had not participated in the speech, took the microphone and answered: "Let me answer this question. At the beginning of the development of the Suzaku rocket, we formulated several development plans for derivative models, including the heavy Suzaku rocket with three first-stage rockets bundled in parallel. Now that the Suzaku rocket has achieved initial success, the development of the heavy Suzaku rocket has also been put on the agenda. In about half a year to a year, the heavy Suzaku will make its first flight, so please pay attention.

As for the super-heavy launch vehicle, we also have relevant R&D plans, which also uses methane fuel and is a recyclable model. This model of rocket also adopts a two-stage structure, with a total length of 120 meters, a takeoff mass of 5000 tons, a takeoff thrust of 7400 tons, a payload of 150 tons, and a maximum diameter of nine meters. In addition to the engine using the same Tianque engine as the Suzaku rocket, multiple engines are connected in parallel, and all other parts are developed from scratch, which is difficult to develop and takes a long time. It is expected that this super-heavy launch vehicle will complete its first flight within two to three years.

By then, Ruida Aerospace will have achieved full coverage of medium, heavy and super heavy launch vehicles in the field of launch vehicles, and will be able to undertake launch missions of large, medium and small spacecraft, including large space station components.

In addition, we also have a manned spacecraft program to prepare for future space tourism programs. "This press conference lasted for an hour. Each reporter who attended the press conference asked two or three questions. Qiao Ruida and Cao Yifei also gave answers based on the actual situation. These reporters can be said to have gained a lot. That night, the news that Ruida Aerospace completed the launch of its self-developed rocket and the recovery of the first stage appeared on the CCTV news program at 7 o'clock every night. And the report lasted for a full three minutes, which shows how much it valued it. This was also the first time that Ruida Aerospace Company appeared in front of the people of the country, and its popularity increased several times at once.

At nine o'clock that evening, after several hours of orbital climbing, the Test Satellite No. 34000 had reached an altitude of more than kilometers, finally approaching the altitude of the geosynchronous orbit. The ground flight control center promptly issued an orbit change command. Several attitude adjustment engines on the Test Satellite No. began to work at the same time, gradually adjusting the speed and direction of the satellite's flight in preparation for entering orbit.

At this time, Qiao Ruida, Du Qingqing, Cao Yifei and others had already eaten dinner and had nothing to do, so they all gathered at the rocket flight control center to watch the live broadcast of the satellite entering orbit. On the large screen in front of the hall, a demonstration animation of the satellite adjusting its capital and entering orbit was played. A small window opened in the lower right corner, playing the real-time image uploaded from the satellite. Because the satellite was in a folded state at this time, the main antenna and solar panels could not work. It could only rely on the secondary antenna and stored energy to shoot videos and send back signals. The bandwidth was quite limited, and the picture was very blurry. Only the general appearance of the satellite and the outline of the earth could be vaguely distinguished.

"Rui Da, weren't all the attitude adjustment engines of the Test Satellite No. 1 turned on? Why can't we see any flames in the video signals sent back from the satellite, and the orbit change speed is also exceptionally slow?" Du Qingqing pulled Qiao Rui Da's sleeve, pointed at the video data on the big screen, and asked curiously.

"That's because the plasma engine used in the Test Satellite 1 has advantages over traditional engines, including higher specific impulse, higher efficiency and lower plume divergence angle. Ion engines use ionized gas as propellant, and this design makes them superior to traditional engines in performance. Specifically, the advantages of ion engines are reflected in the following aspects:
Higher specific impulse: The specific impulse of an ion engine is generally much higher than that of a chemical rocket, which means that it can provide a longer range or greater payload capacity for the same fuel mass.

Higher efficiency: Compared with traditional chemical rockets, ion engines have higher energy conversion efficiency and can more effectively convert electrical energy into kinetic energy, thereby providing more efficient propulsion.

Lower plume divergence angle: The ion engine has a lower plume divergence angle, which means that it can release energy more concentratedly when ejecting propellant, reducing disturbance to the surrounding environment, and also means less energy loss.

In addition, ion engines have better adjustability and responsiveness, and can adapt to different propulsion needs, which is particularly important for deep space exploration and other missions. Using ion engines on satellites instead of traditional engines can greatly increase the life of satellites, but the cost is that the satellite's maneuverability is poor. Plasma is transparent in five colors, so it is normal not to see the flames. "

"So that's how it is. How long will this change of track last?"

"It will take at least half an hour. The satellite must first slow down to exit the elliptical orbit, then adjust its attitude and accelerate to enter the geosynchronous orbit." Qiao Ruida thought for a moment and gave an estimated time.

The actual orbit change time was longer than Qiao Ruida's estimate. It was not until forty minutes later that the Test Satellite No. 1 successfully entered the geosynchronous orbit and was positioned above the equator south of my country.

"Solar panels deployed, main antenna deployed."

As the latest instructions were issued, the solar panels that were originally folded together slowly opened up on the live broadcast screen, just like a bird spreading its wings. The whole shape was extremely beautiful.

The main communication antenna was also flipped out from inside the satellite. The system automatically locked the direction of the ground flight control station, and communication between them was quickly established.
"At 21:38, the Test- satellite successfully entered the geosynchronous orbit. This satellite launch was a complete success."

As Cao Yifei made his final speech, the audience burst into applause and cheers. The successful launch of the Test Satellite No. 1 into orbit indicates that Ruida Aerospace has mastered a basically mature launch vehicle, and also indicates that Ruida Group's Tianditong constellation navigation and communication system has entered the testing phase. It is basically impossible to use only the Test Satellite No. 1 for positioning and navigation, but it is still possible to use it for satellite communications or timing.

When everyone finished celebrating and calmed down, the time came to 22:00. Qiao Ruida clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention and said, "It's getting late, everyone go back to the dormitory and sleep. If there is anything, we can talk about it after we wake up tomorrow."

With Qiao Ruida's order, everyone packed up and left the rocket flight control center. The hall, which had been bustling all day, soon became deserted. Qiao Ruida and Du Qingqing were the last to leave the flight control center. Before leaving, they turned off all the lights and locked the door, and then returned to the dormitory building with peace of mind.

After returning to her residence, Du Qingqing imported the footage she had shot during the day into her computer, roughly edited it, and posted it on her personal Weibo. Qiao Ruida also logged into his Weibo, liked his girlfriend's video, and forwarded it. (End of this chapter)