Simulation: Great Power Technology

Ugly Country, Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Musk sat in his own separate conference room, his face so gloomy that he could almost squeeze water.

He has already received the news that the Falcon 9 was successfully launched and successfully connected to the network, but at the same time, he has also received the news that the entire Starlink system is out of control.

He could hardly believe his ears when Colonel Lewis called him.

how is this possible?

Thousands of Starlink satellites, using the most complex rsa and elliptic curve parallel encryption systems, were hacked without warning?

Not only the intrusion, but the other party even gained control of the system to some extent. Although the other party cannot really fully control the entire satellite network due to the complexity of the control system itself, even if it only disturbs its own Operating instructions is already a very scary thing.

Only then did he understand what Lewis meant by "revenge".

He originally thought that the so-called retaliation was at most peer-to-peer competition. For example, the opponent would launch a large number of satellites of the same type to seize the space in low-Earth orbit. In fact, he was not afraid of this so-called retaliation.

Low cost is our biggest advantage.

Take a turf? Grab it, anyway, my satellite is cheap, and I don't feel bad if it crashes, how about you? Can you afford me?

Yes, the other party really can't afford it, but the problem is that they don't plan to consume it at all.

Start directly from the root and turn your own satellite network into a decoration.

He can foresee that if he wants to launch a new satellite next time, the other party will inevitably adopt a more aggressive strategy, and may even manipulate his own satellites to actively lower their orbits until they all crash!

If you really get to that point, what should you do?

No, this must not be allowed to happen.

The Starlink plan must continue to be implemented, but in the same way, it must be agreed with the other party to prevent them from further destroying it.

The question is, how to do this?

The official strategy of the ugly country is already obvious. Whether it is NASA or the official, they do not want to have further conflicts with Huaxia because of the problem of Starlink, so if you want to continue your business map, you can only rely on yourself.

Thinking of this, Musk picked up the mobile phone on the table and directly dialed the number of his personal relationship in the military.

"...Sir, I understand what you mean. However, we said at the beginning that the Starlink project is just a purely commercial activity, isn't it?"

"Yes, yes, I understand that I have received a lot of support from you in the early stage, and I am grateful, but now I really can't stop this program."

"You know, my company lives on these constantly updated concepts----I live on people's desire and belief in the future, if I give up the Starlink plan now, not only Starlink will collapse, but also spacex, and Tesla!"

"I know you don't care, but the benefits that Starlink can provide you are also real, isn't it?"

"...Sorry, I don't know... But, the fact that surveillance is no longer performed now does not mean that surveillance will not be needed in the future, we have to plan for the long-term and the future."

"I understand that I will cut it with the military, yes, from now on, Starlink will operate as a complete commercial project."

"I'll get the money, I just need an attitude from you..."

"I understand, I will negotiate with China."

"I can offer a lot of things, I have a relatively mature low-cost solution, I can exchange this. No, it will not affect our technical superiority, which can be assured."

"Okay, okay. I'll give you feedback as soon as the results come out."

"thank you very much!"

After putting down the phone, Musk breathed a long sigh of relief.

From this phone call, he has a deeper understanding of the official attitude.

Yes, they didn't really want to give up the Starlink project, they were just afraid of the threat from China.

Therefore, starting from today, the official will no longer support the Starlink project in any direct way, nor will it provide new financial support, but this may not be a good thing for me.

When old shareholders exit, new shareholders can join smoothly, and this process of replacing old and new is often the most profitable period.

Wasn't that the way Tesla landed at the Shanghai factory?

Thinking of this, a mysterious smile appeared on Musk's face.

He called his assistant again and said:

"Help me make an appointment with our contacts in Huaxia, I want to discuss technology transfer with them..."

......

A few hours later, Shencheng SASAC received an invitation for a meeting from spacex. Subsequently, the details of the invitation were forwarded to Chen Hao, and Chen Hao discussed the invitation with Ye Zhou through a video call.

"...So, this track change accident probably softened Musk. What he wants to do now is to find a pick-up man, right?"

Hearing Ye Zhou's words, Chen Hao nodded slightly and then replied:

"Yes. According to the other party's proposal, they will provide us with a complete set of low-cost solutions to make up for the shortcomings of our current launch costs and insufficient payloads in the aerospace field."

"To be honest, although we clearly know that it is taking over, the attractiveness of this condition is really good. From a rational point of view, we should accept it."

"Although we may face some difficulties and threats in the long run, according to the current trend, the gap between us and the ugly country will continue to narrow, superimposed on the dominance of technology, and in the end it is not a problem What a problem."

"The only problem is that as long as this plan is accepted, it will be scheming with the tiger. It is impossible for us to completely put the Starlink project under our control. If the other party makes some small actions outside our monitoring, it will be difficult for us to find out. It is difficult to prevent in advance.”

Ye Zhou leaned back on the chair, thought for a moment, and then answered:

"I personally tend not to work with them."

"In fact, the main technical difficulties of the low-cost launch scheme are hull reuse and engine thrust enhancement, and the key difficulties of these two are materials and engine design."

"As for other flight control, data model systems, etc., we already have advantages, and we can achieve breakthroughs as long as we continue to develop patiently for a period of time."

"They promised to provide us with low-cost solutions, and the high probability of being able to solve them is also in the latter. The key technological breakthroughs of the former still depend on the derivative results of the Nantianmen project."

"Since this is the case, why should we rush to pursue short-term breakthroughs? This is not a matter of life and death."

Chen Hao hummed and said:

"This is indeed the case, but you also know that our aerospace engineering is also facing the pressure of technical bottlenecks. They need to introduce new technologies and new solutions to break the current deadlock. The technology exchange proposed by Musk is a very Good catfish."

"No matter what the general technical office is against, there will always be people who are inclined to accept this catfish. We are also under a lot of pressure."

Ye Zhou shook his head slightly and replied:

"We need catfish, but we don't need sharks."

"If even key fields such as aerospace need to be impacted by foreign technology, then our future development will be at risk."

"Isn't the core contradiction now a low-cost solution? I have a solution, would you like to hear it?"

"tell me the story."

Ye Zhou coughed, pondered for a while and then said:

"Modular Satellite Design."

"Modular? What do you mean?"

"Meaning, we first launch a comprehensive satellite platform into the air, let the platform achieve long-term battery life, and then add corresponding functional modules to the satellite according to subsequent functional needs."

"In this way, we can simplify the satellite structure, save the weight of the satellite, and thus save the cost of launch."

"More importantly, if the integrated satellite platform can achieve sustainable existence, the life of the satellite will also be greatly improved, which may not see results in the short term, but in the long run, the cost savings is definitely not a small number-- -- at least, certainly over what Musk calls a low-cost option."

Hearing this, Chen Hao frowned slightly.

"Do you mean to make the satellite into the form of a small space station? But in this case, the requirements for the orbit change engine are very high... Subsequent fuel replenishment is also a big problem."

Ye Zhou smiled slightly and replied:

"No, we don't refuel."

"No refueling? Then how..."

"No working substance plasma engine. Have you forgotten? In the Nantianmen project, I provided this result."

"Yes, the thrust of the current prototype is very low, and it can even be said that before the realization of controlled nuclear fusion, the thrust that this engine can provide is almost negligible, but that is only relative to the traditional on the ground. In terms of engines, controllable nuclear fusion itself is also in our plan."

"So, this engine was originally built for space, and now, it's time for it to take its first steps."

......

One day after receiving Musk’s invitation, Huaxia participated in the meeting with the other party as scheduled. However, at this meeting, the representative of Huaxia ruthlessly rejected the other party’s proposal for technology exchange.

They did not explain the reason, but told Musk that the technical solution he provided did not conform to the development direction of the Huaxia technology route.

But what direction are you in?

Musk doesn't understand.

However, two hours after the meeting ended, he got his answer from the news.

As a sub-project of the Nantianmen project, the non-working ion engine project was officially announced, and the first phase of the results was released.

The thrust reached an astonishing 50mn.

Not high, but ridiculously low.

But it is such an absurdly low thrust that has set off huge waves in the aerospace field.

If SpaceX is trying to open the era of large-scale human entry into space, then what this ion engine wants to do is something bigger and more magnificent.

What it wants to conquer is not just the "fake" space that is only hundreds of kilometers away from the earth.

But outside the solar system, outside the Milky Way, the real sea of ​​stars.

In contrast, SpaceX's so-called "space immigration program" is as naive as a child who takes a walk outside his home and thinks he has completed an amazing trip.