Great Power Technology.

Chapter 386 Real Travel

Ugly country, Vandenberg Air Force Base.

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

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

When Colonel Louis called him, he could hardly believe his ears.

How can it be?

Thousands of Starlink satellites, using the most complex RSA and elliptic curve parallel encryption system, were invaded without warning?
Not only the intrusion, but the other party has even gained control of the system to a certain extent. Although due to the complexity of the control system itself, the other party cannot really fully control the entire satellite network, but even if it is only to disrupt its own Operating instructions is already an extremely scary thing.

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

I originally thought that the so-called retaliation was equal competition at most, for example, the opponent also launched a lot of satellites of the same type to seize the low-Earth orbit space. He was actually not afraid of this so-called retaliation at all.

Low cost is our biggest advantage.

Grab the site?Grab it, anyway, my satellite is cheap, and I don’t feel bad if it crashes, how about you?You can afford it with me?
Yes, the other party really couldn't afford it, but the problem was that they didn't intend to spend it at all.

Go straight from the ground up and turn your own satellite network into a deployment.

His settings 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 come to that step, what should you do?
No, this must not be allowed to happen.

The Starlink project must continue to be implemented, but at the same time, an agreement must be reached with the other party to prevent them from sabotaging it.

The question is, how to do this?
Ugly Country's official strategy is already obvious. Neither NASA nor the official wants to have further conflicts with China because of the Starlink issue. Therefore, if you want to continue your business, you can only rely on yourself.

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

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

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

"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 project now, not only Starlink, but also SpaceX will collapse. , and Tesla!"

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

".I'm sorry, I don't know, but the fact that surveillance is no longer performed now does not mean that there will be no need for surveillance in the future. We have to plan for the long-term and the future."

"I understand that I will cut off from the military. Yes, from now on, Starlink will operate as a completely commercial project."

"I'll fix the money, I just need your attitude"

"I understand, I will negotiate with Huaxia."

"I can provide a lot of conditions. I have a set of relatively mature low-cost solutions, which I can exchange. No, this will not affect our technical superiority. You can rest assured."

"Okay, okay. I will give you feedback as soon as the result comes out."

"thank you very much!"

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

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

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

Therefore, starting 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 leave the market, new shareholders can join in smoothly, and this process of new and old replacement is often the most profitable period.

Isn't that the way Tesla landed at the Shanghai factory?
Thinking of this, a mysterious smile appeared on Musk's face.

He dialed the assistant's phone again, and then said:
"Help me make an appointment with our contacts in China, I want to discuss technology transfer with them"

A few hours later, Shencheng State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission received a meeting invitation from Spacex, and then, the details of the invitation were passed on to Chen Hao, and Chen Hao discussed the invitation with Ye Zhou through a video call.

".So, this derailment accident probably softened Musk. What he wants to do now is to find a pick-up man. Is that correct?"

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, so as to make up for the shortcomings of our current launch costs and insufficient loads in the aerospace field."

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

"Although we may face some difficulties and threats in the long run, judging from the current trend, the gap between us and the ugly country will continue to narrow in the future. With the dominance of technology added, it will not be wrong to turn our backs and deny people in the end. What a problem."

"The only problem is that as long as we accept this plan, we are seeking skin from a tiger. We cannot completely put the Starlink project under our control. If the other party makes some small moves outside of our monitoring, it will be difficult for us to find out, and we will not be able to control the Starlink project." It's hard to prevent it in advance."

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

"Personally, I tend not to work with them."

"Actually, the main technical difficulty of the low-cost launch scheme lies in the reuse of the hull and the increase of engine thrust, and the key difficulty of these two lies in the material 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 a low-cost solution, and the high probability of being able to solve it is also on the latter. The key technological breakthrough of the former still depends on the derivative results of the Nantianmen project."

"Since this is the case, why should we rush for quick success and instant benefits in pursuit of breakthroughs in a short period of time? 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 how much the General Technical Office opposes, 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, yes, but we don't need sharks."

"If even a key field like aerospace needs to be impacted by foreign technology, then our future development will be in jeopardy."

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

"tell me the story."

Ye Zhou coughed, pondered for a moment and then said:
"Modular Satellite Design."

"Modular? What do you mean?"

"It means that we first launch an integrated satellite platform into the air to allow the platform to 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 satellite weight, and thus save launch costs."

"More importantly, if the integrated satellite platform can achieve sustainable existence, the service life of the satellite will also be greatly improved. This may not show results in the short term, but in the long run, the cost savings will definitely not be a small number—— At least, it will definitely exceed Musk's so-called low-cost solution."

Hearing this, Chen Hao frowned slightly.

"You mean, make the satellite into a small space station? But in this case, the requirements for the orbit-changing engine will be very high. Subsequent fuel replenishment is also a big problem."

Ye Zhou smiled slightly and replied:
"No, we don't refuel."

"Not refueling? So what?"

"No propellant plasma engine. Did you forget? In the Nantianmen project, I provided this result."

"Yes, the thrust of the current prototype is very low. It can even be said that before the realization of controllable nuclear fusion, the thrust provided by this engine is so low that it is almost negligible. As far as the engine is concerned, the controllable nuclear fusion itself is also in our plan."

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

One day after receiving Musk's invitation, Huaxia participated in the meeting with the other party as scheduled. However, at this meeting, the Huaxia representative mercilessly rejected the other party's proposal for a technical exchange.

They did not explain the reason, but only told Musk that the technical solution he provided did not conform to the development direction of China's technical route.

But what is your direction?
Musk couldn't figure it out.

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

As a sub-project of the Nantianmen Project, the No-Process Ion Engine Project was officially announced, and the results of the first phase were released.

The thrust reached an astonishing 50mN.

Not high, but ridiculously low.

But it was such a ridiculously low thrust that caused huge waves in the aerospace field.

If it is said that SPACEX is trying to open the era of human beings entering space on a large scale, then what this ion engine wants to do is something far more ambitious and magnificent.

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

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

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

(End of this chapter)