Galactic Tech Empire

Chapter 378
Rhine and the others quickly and carefully watched the exploration report of the "Iron Star 1 Asteroid", and the more they read, the more envious and jealous they became.

At the same time, he also has two eyes on the resources in outer space, just an asteroid has such rich resources.

Although the proportion of mineral asteroids in the overall asteroids is very small, the overall number of asteroids is huge.

Everything must have an overall base, and there will be more or less useful parts in it.

Asteroids are celestial bodies in the solar system that are similar to planets orbiting the sun, but much smaller in size and mass than planets.

We all know that 98.5% of the asteroids are distributed in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and there are many asteroids distributed around the L3 and L4 points of Jupiter, which are called Trojan asteroids.

If you have seen the star map of the solar system, you know that most of the asteroids are very far away from the blue star, and are more difficult to reach than Mars. For these distant asteroids, it is meaningless to develop them in recent years.

Then turn your attention to those asteroids that are closer to the blue star, that is, Near Earth Asteroids (NEA for short).

Compared with other asteroids, the development of near-Earth asteroids is obviously less difficult, cheaper, and technically easier to achieve.

Near-Earth asteroids usually refer to asteroids whose orbits intersect with the orbits of blue stars, and their orbital radius is usually between 0.983 AU and 1.3 AU.

AU refers to the astronomical unit (Astronomical Unit, abbreviated as AU), which is a unit of length, approximately equal to the average distance between the blue star and the sun.Belonging to one of the astronomical constants, the basic unit for measuring distance in astronomy, especially for measuring the distance between celestial bodies in the solar system, the average distance from the blue star to the sun is an astronomical unit.One astronomical unit is approximately 1.496 million kilometers.

The number of known near-Earth asteroids is 12819, and the number of discoveries is still growing.

Among them, the number of known near-Earth asteroids with a diameter of more than 1 km is 873, but the discovery rate is declining. It is estimated that the number of such near-Earth asteroids is about 981.

According to the different orbital radii, near-Earth asteroids can be divided into the following three categories:
Arden-type asteroids, the average orbital radius of this type of asteroid is close to one astronomical unit, and the aphelion is greater than the perihelion (0.983AU) of the blue star, and they are often located in the blue star orbit.

Apollo-type asteroids, the average orbital radius of this type of asteroid is outside the orbit of the blue star, and the perihelion is inside the orbit of the blue star.

Amor-type asteroids, the orbit of this type of asteroid is located between the blue star and Mars, and the perihelion is located a little outside the orbit of the blue star (1.017 ~ 1.3 AU).

The Amor asteroid often crosses the orbit of Mars but not the orbit of Blue Star.

Two of Mars' natural moons, Phobos and Deimos, appear to be Amor asteroids captured by Mars' gravity.

The next step is to pick up the resources on the asteroid, mainly its mineral resources.

According to the different spectra of asteroids, they can be roughly divided into the following three categories: C-type asteroids, accounting for about 75% of the total number of asteroids; S-type asteroids, accounting for about 17% of the total number of asteroids; the rest are M-class asteroids (WX asteroids are M-class).

C-type asteroids have more abundant water resources, and rock and soil resources (such as silicon dioxide, magnesium oxide, iron oxide, etc.) are also richer;
S-type asteroids have more rock and soil resources (mainly silica); M-type asteroids have more metal resources (iron, nickel, etc.).

Many people may be more concerned about the content of platinum, etc. In fact, we have inferred the content of platinum group metals in asteroids through statistics on the content of iridium (Ir) in iron meteorites on blue stars.

Platinum group metals are mainly distributed in M-type asteroids, and about 50-60% of M-type asteroids are richer in platinum than blue stars.

That is to say, C-type asteroids account for 75% of the total, and M-type asteroids account for 8% of the total. The water resources of C-type asteroids and the metal resources of M-type asteroids are crucial for human beings to open up the universe in the future.

If you are lucky and encounter a resource-rich asteroid like WX asteroid, one can earn at least tens of billions.

What's more, there is the moon, an important satellite. The moon is not only a matter of resources, but also a more important position. Whoever occupies the moon will seize the opportunity in the future space development.

"Mr. Fang, we need to think about it. After all, this amount is too big." Rhine was obviously a little moved, but it is true that such a large investment cannot be decided by him alone.

"I can wait, but Mao Xiong and Tianzhu are also discussing. The property rights of the mass projector determine the share of future launches." Fang Dongliang reminded with a smile.

His implication is that 49% of the property rights means owning 49% of the launch share. If 30 tons of cargo can be launched a year, the 49% share is 14.7 tons of cargo.

"Mr. Fang, we are very sincere, but please give us a little time." Rhine said in a hurry.

"I'll give you three days, and you won't wait after the deadline." Fang Dongliang said directly.

"Okay, we must make a decision within three days."

After this secret negotiation ended, Rhine hurriedly had a holographic conversation with Layton in Shanghai.

After Layton heard Rhine's words, he knew that this was an opportunity as well as a threat. Once the Western Continent Alliance gave up cooperation, others might take the opportunity to take over.

"Rheinland, we act on our own, and convince the country as soon as possible, even if it is to reduce social benefits, we must spend money to win this project."

"Their quotation is 1.3 trillion Chinese dollars, and we will bear 80%, which is 1.04 trillion Chinese dollars. The current exchange rate between Western dollars and Chinese dollars is 1:7.2, and we need to pay 1444.4 billion Chinese dollars." Rhine said.

"We can bear this number. Although it is a bit difficult, we can still prepare it if we find a way." Layton thought for a while and said.

Now the Western Continent Alliance has 28 member states. Excluding John’s family, there are still 27 member states. As the top four members of the Western Continent Alliance, they are the Hans Family, Gaul, Pasta Country, and Western Banya. The combined GDP of China in 2019 is about 5.5 trillion U.S. dollars.

This year, the total economic output of the Western Continent Alliance is about 18 trillion U.S. dollars, and it is still possible to spend 1444.4 billion U.S. dollars.

What's more, the money must not be taken out at one time, and they will inevitably propose the idea of ​​​​payment in installments during the negotiation.

After Rhine, Layton and others sent the situation back to the Western Continent Alliance, the Western Continent Alliance immediately held an emergency joint meeting in secret.

In order to gain a first-mover advantage, the Hans family and Gaul joined forces to persuade other member states, even at the expense of increasing their share of funds.

Rhine and Layton didn't know what was going on in the Western Continent Alliance, but this time they were very efficient. In less than two days, an approval document was in Layton's hands.

"The joint meeting has agreed to this project, but they let us strive for as many conditions as possible." Layton said to Rhine.

"Great, I will try my best to negotiate with the Dongtang people for other conditions." Rhine said hastily.

"Then please." Layton said seriously.

Fang Dongliang in Shanmei has already received a request from Rhine to renegotiate. He did not expect the efficiency of these Xizhou guys to be so fast. He originally thought that they would not be able to give a result within ten days and a half months. It seems that people have potential is infinite.

Since they want to negotiate, Fang Dongliang has no reason to refuse. After all, they are here to give money. If they can get this money, the investment in the construction plan will be almost paid back.

(End of this chapter)