The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 396: The long way to go in space exploration

Currently, there are only two countries in the world that are engaged in satellite positioning.

One is the United States and the other is the Soviet Union.

The U.S. satellite positioning system GPS began as a project of the U.S. military in 1958 and was officially put into use in 1964. The name of the positioning system at that time was called the Transit Satellite Positioning System. The system intended to work with a star network consisting of 5 to 6 satellites, orbiting the earth up to 13 times a day, providing navigation and positioning for the military and preparing for precision-guided weapons.

At this time, there are about 11 US positioning test satellites in space.

As for the Soviet Union's GLONASS satellite system, the Soviet Union was ahead of the United States in this regard.

说起航天，苏联创造了众多世界第一，首颗人造地球卫星‘史普尼克1号’、首颗人造近月卫星‘月球1号’、‘首颗月球同步轨道卫星’、‘传回首张月球背面照片’、‘首个载人地球卫星，加加林’东方1号、‘首个金星登陆卫星’金星3号、首个软着陆月球卫星‘月球9号’、首个月球轨道卫星‘月球10号’、首个金星大气探测器‘金星4号’、首个接近月球及返回卫星‘探测器5号’、首个金星登陆卫星‘金星7号’、首个月球机器人采样及返回卫星‘月球16号’、首个月球车‘月球17号’、首个火星登陆卫星‘火星2号’、首个火星接近卫星及首个火星大气探测器‘火星3号’、人类历史上首个太空站‘礼炮-1号空间站’、第一次舱外活动‘上升2号’、最年轻的航天员、第一位女性航天员
It can be said that the Soviet Union has always been far ahead in the field of space, putting the United States under great pressure.

However, the United States suddenly launched a manned moon landing, catching the Soviet Union off guard and causing the Soviet Union to fall behind in the field of space.

No matter how much the Soviet Union publicizes its brilliant achievements in the field of aerospace, they pale in comparison to the "manned moon landing".

As for why the moon landing was terminated, why it would be impossible to land on the moon again after forty or fifty years, and why the technical data was lost, it has triggered countless associations.

However, in Liu Tao's opinion, the Soviet Union is currently leading in aerospace technology. Even though the Soviet Union's several attempts to land humans on the moon have failed, it cannot be denied that the Soviet Union's aerospace technology is indeed far ahead of the world.

In the field of aerospace, China is still far behind.

It was not until 1970 that the Long March successfully launched into space carrying China's first artificial satellite, the Dongfanghong , that people finally saw a Chinese satellite flying in space.

In addition, the first recoverable satellite was successfully launched in 1975 and returned safely three days later, making China the third country in the world to master satellite return technology.

As for the rest, it's all blank.

Liu Tao's eyes were not only on the ground and the sea, but also on the air and space.

Before, Liu Tao had reported to his leaders about satellite positioning.

Liu Tao also has some understanding of China's aerospace industry.

There are two reasons why China's aerospace industry has made slow progress: one is the lack of talent, and the other is the lack of funds.

Aerospace is one of the world's top-tier high-tech fields, requiring a very large number of talents. However, China lacks such talents, and the existing talent team is not enough to carry out more activities.

The second reason is the lack of funds. Aerospace is a high-tech field that costs a lot of money, but China's current focus is on economic development and it does not have much money to develop aerospace.

In other words, it is not easy for Liu Tao to launch a positioning satellite.

He also learned that in the 70s, China began to study satellite navigation system technology and solutions, but due to the technical difficulty and lack of funds, the research project called "Lighthouse" was cancelled. In 1983, Chinese aerospace expert Chen Fangyun proposed the use of two geostationary orbit satellites to achieve regional navigation functions, but due to lack of funds, no experiments have been carried out to verify the feasibility of this idea.

"We have a long way to go in the field of aerospace!" The old man sighed, "I don't understand the technical aspects, but I do know one thing: science is the primary productive force."

"Just like the technical research and development of the Type 022 missile boat, Type 022A torpedo boat, Type 054 frigate, and Type 052 destroyer, it has driven the development of domestic materials and promoted the development of the entire shipbuilding industry, metallurgy, electromechanical, etc." The old man said: "You are our chief scientist of China. You have to take the lead in technical research. You proposed to expand university enrollment before. Next year, we will invest more education funds to cultivate more talents."

Liu Tao nodded. He also knew the current difficulties faced by China's aerospace industry.

For example, China's current carrier rocket, the Long March 29.5, has a total length of 81.5 meters, a takeoff mass of 2.25 tons, a maximum diameter of 300 meters, and a carrying capacity of kilograms.

There is no doubt that the Long March 300 carrier rocket cannot meet Liu Tao's requirements, because the weight of the positioning satellite must exceed kilograms.

I took the leaders to visit the frigate "Hong Kong Island", and then experienced the ship's meals with the officers and soldiers on board.

When night falls, it also means that the service of the "Hong Kong Island" frigate has come to an end. What follows is for the officers and soldiers on board to explore and hone their skills so as to unleash the combat effectiveness of the "Hong Kong Island" frigate.

Whether or not there are advanced ships is one thing, and whether the ships’ combat effectiveness can be brought into play is another.

For example, the full combat effectiveness of the frigate "Hong Kong Island" is 100. Whether it can exert 1 combat effectiveness or 100 combat effectiveness depends on the officers and soldiers on the ship.

Liu Tao can develop advanced frigates, but he cannot stay on the ship all the time.

Liu Tao stayed in the Dalian Shipyard. There was no news about the commissioning of the frigate "Hong Kong Island" on the evening news. It was obvious that the country did not intend to announce relevant information about the frigate "Hong Kong Island" at this time.

Even the groundbreaking ceremony for the HMS Hong Kong frigate is still kept secret and has never been reported.

But this is normal. The frigate "Hong Kong Island" is a highly confidential military secret, and reporting it at critical moments can play an unexpected role.

In this regard, just like the first Type 052 destroyer "Xiangjiang" which is currently under construction, it is also under a high level of military confidentiality.

Even though the Soviet Union and the United States have military reconnaissance satellites in space, they can only know that they are roughly building large warships, but cannot directly judge their specific performance, and nine out of ten times they will think it is a Type 053 frigate.

After all, the technology of today's satellites is still relatively limited and the accuracy is not that high.

Liu Tao came to the dock at night. One of the docks was building the first Type 052 destroyer, the 'Xiang Jiang', and another dock was building the third Type 054 frigate, the 'Huludao'.

Now Dalian Shipyard can start construction of two large warships at the same time, which shows the improvement of Dalian Shipyard’s capabilities over the past period of time.

(End of this chapter)