America's Road to Fame

Chapter 345 Still need to work hard

The reason why he chose to cooperate with SpaceX is that William Chen is the major shareholder of this company - he once invested 2 million US dollars, holding 33% of the shares of this company, and what's more, it is the current SpaceX Falcon 9 carrier. After the successful development of the rocket, the cost of launching satellites is already very low, and of course there is still room for further reduction in the future.

When William Chen first invested in SpaceX, when the subprime mortgage crisis broke out, Musk was in a desperate situation.

At that time, after his SpaceX experienced the failure of the first three rocket launches, coupled with Tesla’s constant need for capital investment, his personal assets were exhausted, and both SpaceX and Tesla were facing the possibility of closing down.

At that time, William Chen invested 9 million U.S. dollars to support the research and development of Falcon [-] and Dragon undertaken by SpaceX at that time, as well as a large amount of labor costs.

And at that time, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States also extended a helping hand to him and gave SpaceX a big order, that is, a large order to help NASA provide 12 resupply services to the International Space Station, with a contract amount of up to 16 One hundred million U.S. dollars.

Relying on William Chen's investment and the deal with NASA, Musk has successfully weathered the financial crisis.

So why did NASA choose to support SpaceX so strongly?
In fact, except for the space shuttle, NASA's main launch projects are carried out by the Delta 4 and Atlas 5 rockets provided by the United Launch Alliance (ULA).

At that time, space launches in the United States were monopolized by the two giants Boeing and Locke Martin. The two companies developed a new generation of low-cost rockets under the military's Progressive One-off Launch Vehicle Program (EELV).Subsequently, the two companies established a joint venture "United Launch Alliance" (ULA) to adjust their business and reduce costs. Although the two giants claimed that the cost of the combined project would be greatly reduced, saving the US government 1 to 1.5 million US dollars in related expenses every year.

However, the monopoly pattern of a single company is still obvious. After all, after the establishment of ULA, it has monopolized the rocket launch projects of the US Air Force, NASA and other government agencies.

For example, ULA has the strongest rocket carrying capacity in service—the Delta IV heavy-duty rocket. Its carrying capacity is twice as high as that of the Falcon 9 that SpaceX has just successfully developed, but the launch cost is about 1.4 million US dollars. It took almost 30 months from order to launch!
Therefore, NASA has already complained about the high cost of ULA rocket launches and the long preparation period.

After that, NASA faced the problem of choosing a more economical way to enter space after the space shuttle was retired. Neither the ULA rocket nor the Russian spaceship was a good choice for NASA.

NASA must choose competitive companies to invest and cooperate in the development of a new generation of spacecraft, and SpaceX is the right choice.

In addition to reducing costs, SpaceX does not have a large number of shareholders. Compared with a large company like ULA, SpaceX is very flexible in decision-making and can devote all its efforts to complete the contract.

If SpaceX succeeds, after NASA's huge investment, low-cost space travel will be possible in the future, and SpaceX will also undertake the mission of manned spaceflight.

Therefore, under this consideration, NASA chose to strongly support the development of SpaceX. In 2006, NASA invested 800 million US dollars in the commercial orbital transportation service project to build 2 launch pads and signed 2 target companies, among which There is SpaceX.

Also in 2006, SpaceX received $2.78 million in funding from NASA to develop the Falcon 9.

In terms of technical research, SpaceX's biggest backing comes from NASA.

SpaceX has its own research and development department, as well as a group of talented scientists and designers, but its main technical patents come from NASA and its affiliated Goddard Space Flight Center, Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center , Stennis Space Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

For the needs of some projects, NASA also often provides SpaceX with research and development equipment and test sites, using its own technology and equipment advantages to help SpaceX develop better and save costs.

For example, the prototype of the Merlin engine used on the "Falcon" 9 rocket was the engine system used by NASA for manned landing on the moon. Remodeled and upgraded.

It can be said that the technologies of the "Falcon" rocket and the "Dragon" spacecraft are the integration and crystallization of decades of aerospace technology in the United States, not just what SpaceX can develop by itself in just a few years.

Among them are some technologies of the "Apollo" moon landing program and many other secret technologies of NASA in the United States. Through patent transfers and other means, NASA has enabled these technologies to be applied to SpaceX's space launch, thereby reducing the cost of satellite launches for NASA. The cost of space transportation.

In order to support SpaceX, NASA also sent its own core technical backbone to the company, including a group of top experts in the aerospace industry.Coupled with the technical elites that SpaceX poached from NASA and the industry, the company has a large number of top technical personnel in the industry, which guarantees the success rate of its technology research and development and the strength of external financing.

And currently NASA still holds shares in SpaceX. As an investor, NASA and its affiliated research centers, industrial facilities and SpaceX are still in business cooperation.

SpaceX will send technical requirements to NASA according to the needs of the project, NASA will do research, and finally SpaceX will pay and purchase its completed technical achievements or patents.

This is similar to the partnership between many companies and research institutions such as universities.

These adjustments in commercial relations have greatly reduced the R&D cost of aerospace technology and shortened the R&D cycle.

At the same time, it is precisely because of the existence of SpaceX that NASA has been able to vigorously cut redundant staff in recent years, which has promoted the labor productivity of the entire American aerospace industry system to a certain extent.

Therefore, it can be said that the relationship between SpaceX and NASA is a win-win relationship. Since the funding from the American government is getting less and less, if NASA continues to rely on a monopoly giant like ULA, then what they can do in the aerospace industry is There will be very few, and the front must be narrowed, so the aerospace research and development of the United States will take a big step back.

And SpaceX provides another option for NASA, which just authorizes the technology that NASA can't use temporarily to SpaceX. When the company's strength increases, it can in turn help NASA spend less money and do more things, thus To achieve a win-win situation.

This single communication satellite launch contract given by William Chen to SpaceX is also very important to SpaceX. This is the first launch order for their Falcon 9 carrier rocket after the successful development. This launch was successfully completed. , It also made SpaceX famous, and their highly cost-effective satellite launch business has also attracted interest from many countries, including Europe.

There are already multiple orders under negotiation. I am afraid that from then on, SpaceX will be able to grab a huge share in the aerospace field.

Of course, this is what William Chen is happy to see. After all, he is the major shareholder of the company. Nearly a year ago, when William Chen invested in SpaceX, its post-money valuation was only US$6 million. , this valuation is already more than 20 billion US dollars, and with the smooth development of their business, the valuation will still rise rapidly. It is foreseeable that SpaceX will also become a super unicorn with a market value of [-] billion US dollars in the future beast company.

"William, I saw the news that you have a baby, congratulations."

After witnessing the success of this satellite launch with Musk, he said to William Chen:
"But you only have one now, and you still need to work hard. I have five children, and they are only two."

Seeing Musk's ostentatious expression and saying these words, William Chen was also speechless. This guy is really a genius. Not only is he a technological madman, but he is also full of sense of technology when he gives birth to a child. Using medical technology to separate the two babies, One birth of twins, one birth of triplets, there are 5 children, this efficiency is no one else.

"Don't worry, Musk, I will surpass you sooner or later."

William Chen said indifferently.

uh-huh?You have medical technology, so what, I have many women, even if I know that you will have a sixth child in the future, I am not in vain, okay?

You must know that William Chen is only 22 years old. To be precise, there are already two children, one has already been born, and the other will be born in three or four months. According to this efficiency, when he reaches the age of Musk ...

I am afraid that a football team is too conservative. William Chen feels that even a platoon is not impossible...

(End of this chapter)