The military-industrial scientific research system of the academic master.

The Kuaizhou-1, engulfed in flames and thick smoke, slowly accelerated and climbed upwards in front of more than a dozen cameras and hundreds of gazes at the launch site, as well as the expectant gazes of TV viewers around the world.

Soon, only a white trail was left in the air behind him.

The core stage's primary function is to get the rocket to a sufficient height and speed as quickly as possible, so the trail of this section does not exhibit the zigzag characteristics that would be produced by consuming extra energy.

Compared to the busy and lively atmosphere in the command center after a conventional rocket launch, the on-site environment at this time is undoubtedly much quieter.

In fact, since the successful launch of Shenzhou V in 2003 and the manned space program entered the second phase, China has always had the need to build a new space launch site in a low-latitude coastal area.

On the one hand, it is to use the rotation of the earth to increase the carrying capacity of the rocket. On the other hand, it can also free up the strict restrictions of railway transportation on the diameter of the rocket, making it easier to serve the launch of higher-level rockets in the future.

However, plans are plans.

At least as of 2006, the only suborbital Vega series sounding rockets that had been launched in Hainan Province were so there was no infrastructure specifically designed to serve space launch missions.

In addition, the space debris No. 40396, the mission target of the space fishing ship, is in an orbit with a very strange angle, which makes it impossible for several telemetry stations built by China in the past to function well.

Therefore, for a long period of time after launch, the flight conditions can only be judged through the sensors installed on the rocket itself.

Fortunately, this is the normal working environment for ballistic missiles, so from the brigade commander Yang Guang to the ordinary non-commissioned officers in charge of liaison tasks, the officers and soldiers on the Second Artillery side all expressed that they were in a stable mood.

But for Zhou Pingjian, who was accustomed to conventional space launch missions, the scene of complete silence after the rocket launch was too depressing.

Even a little scary——

In the past, this situation usually only occurred after a launch failure.

After sitting there restlessly for about half a minute, he couldn't help himself and said something for fun:

"This rocket modified from a ballistic missile is really easy to launch..."

Chang Haonan was staring at the data on the laptop screen in front of him, but because the rocket had not yet flown into the first telemetry area and was limited by the structure of the solid rocket itself, there was nothing particularly good to see.

So when I heard someone break the silence, I turned around without any attachment.

However, Zhao Fuyuan from the 9th Academy of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation reacted faster:

"Well... the use environment of our product is somewhat different from that of ordinary rockets. From the beginning of its design, it was considered to be used in extreme environments... uh... so it is much more convenient to carry out this kind of small-payload, low-orbit launch mission."

Although Zhou Pingjian is the chief designer of the manned space program, he has a strong voice in the entire aerospace system.

Moreover, the launch missions he is responsible for include not only the Shenzhou spacecraft and the Tiangong space station. For example, the Qingluan-2 constellation launched last year was also included in the manned space program because it was planned to undertake the relay communication mission for China's first spacewalk.

As the director of the newly established launch vehicle research center, Zhao Fuyuan naturally had to take this opportunity to quickly market his company's current flagship, which is also the only available model.

However, he thought that Lao Zhou was expressing praise just now.

In fact, the other party is just venting his emotions...

He didn't even react to what Zhao Fuyuan had just said.

For a moment, the atmosphere at the launch site was somewhat awkward.

Fortunately, at this time, the first voice finally came from the radio communicator:

"Changjiang No. 3, capture the target!"

Yangtze River is the code name of the Yuanwang survey ship in the launch mission.

For this special launch mission, the National Space Administration specially mobilized as many as three offshore measurement ships to ensure the measurement and control needs of the three most critical nodes during the rocket launch process.

The Yuanwang-3 is the first one located in the northeast of Hainan Province.

As the voice fell, several windows on the computer screen that were originally pitch black began to show images or data at the same time.

Chang Haonan took a quick glance.

All you see is green.

Almost at the same time, the second command sounded again:

"Yangtze River No. 3, radar data is normal, telemetry signal is normal!"

After hearing these words, the first round of applause since the launch finally rang out over this somewhat crude temporary launch site.

The extremely oppressive atmosphere was suddenly broken, and Zhou Pingjian, who was almost sweating profusely just now, also visibly relaxed.

Obviously, he is more accustomed to this situation.

After clapping his hands a few times, Lao Zhou suddenly seemed to remember something and turned to look at Zhao Fuyuan who was not far behind him:

"By the way, Lao Zhao, what did you just say to me?"

"..."

The originally serious and lively atmosphere almost turned humorous because of this sentence.

Zhao Fuyuan shook his head helplessly, but he didn't want to repeat it again.

When he couldn't see anything just now, he really didn't feel much.

But at this moment, seeing the rocket he developed flying in the sky with his own eyes from the optical observation results transmitted back by Yuanwang-3, he felt a little excited and nervous for no reason.

After all, as a missile designer in the past, there has never been such an opportunity.

About half a minute later, the dazzling light flashing at the tail of the rocket gradually weakened, and then completely went out within a few seconds.

However, this makes the imaging effect of the optical lens clearer.

"Well--"

There was a burst of exclamations around the monitor.

The slender and long snow-white body was wrapped in a layer of dense airflow, just like the body of a girl wrapped in a layer of translucent gauze.

Mysterious and alluring.

Zhao Fuyuan half bent over, almost wanting to put his face into the screen:

"Too beautiful……"

It was also the first time that Missile Brigade Commander Zhou Guang saw something he had launched:

"It's really spectacular..."

Although his military training made him sit upright, his eyes were fixed on the optical window.

Chang Haonan was counting down silently in his heart:

"5...4...3..."

There were no hardware changes to the first two stages of Kuaizhou-1, but in the energy management system designed by Chang Haonan, an additional gliding segment was added after the engine of each stage was shut down to reduce unnecessary maneuvers in the power stage and ensure the highest possible orbital accuracy.

His voice was not loud, but the people closest to him could still hear it vaguely.

Just as Zhao Fuyuan and Zhou Pingjian turned their gazes towards Chang Haonan with some curiosity...

"First and second level separation!"

Chang Haonan's voice and the voice on the radio sounded almost at the same time.

It was obvious that he had mastered the whole process by heart.

And he has the ability to control time almost like a stopwatch.

Zhou Pingjian's eyes widened slightly, but he still didn't say anything at this most critical moment.

At the same time, in the picture captured by the camera on the No. 12 arrow, the locking device at the first and second stage connection was released, and the groups of compression springs surrounding the arrow body were activated at the same time, pushing the inner and outer sleeves of the separate push rod away from each other.

Under the influence of the law of conservation of momentum, the core first stage rocket, which had completed its mission, lost speed and slowly began to fall in the image.

Almost at the same time, high-temperature combustion gases gushed out from the tail of the rocket again, forming a dazzling halo that quickly enveloped the entire rocket body, causing the optical observation equipment to lose a lot of details again.

A few seconds later, the rocket left the tracking and control range of Yuanwang-3.

The few image windows just now turned dark again.

However, this time the middle section of the signal did not last long.

Yuanwang-5, located in the central Pacific Ocean, quickly recaptured the target.

When the low-magnification optical window in the display lit up again, the picture that appeared in it surprised everyone -

Under the dark sky, a white air current with a trilobite-like outline came from far away, like a god tearing the void apart, flying towards them at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Changjiang No. 5, radar data is normal, telemetry signal is normal!"

The report from Yuanwang-5 sounded.

But everyone had forgotten to applaud.

This scene is not unfamiliar to professionals in spacecraft design.

It's just a jellyfish cloud, and it's mentioned even in the most basic textbooks.

However, to create such a spectacular effect, quite a few stringent conditions need to be met.

Due to ballistic path limitations, China's usual rocket and missile launches rarely meet the requirements.

Therefore, even many professionals present were observing this scene in its entirety for the first time.

"Will this footage... be broadcast?"

After a long while, Zhou Pingjian broke the silence reluctantly.

"meeting."

Chang Haonan nodded:

"But considering the current altitude of the rocket, there should be many people who can see it without watching TV... just by looking up."

"Ok?"

Zhao Fuyuan was stunned at first, then turned to look at the map displayed on another screen next to him -

The trajectory of Kuaizhou-1 just happened to pass over the waters near Guam...