I ask you to build tractors, but you build rockets?

Xinyuan Space Launch Site, Station 1.

Seen from a distance, there is only a huge erected space shuttle next to the launch tower, and the Xinyuan-2A rocket carrying it for takeoff is not visible at all.

Because there is no need for a second stage, the maximum length of Xinyuan No. 2A is only 51 meters, while the total length of Pioneer plus the tail engine is close to 75 meters...

In terms of width, the three 6-meter-diameter rocket bodies of the Xinyuan-2A modification plus the gap are also about 20 meters, and the wingspan of the Pioneer reaches 38 meters.

Especially from the angle of the viewing beach, most of the Xinyuan-2A rocket body is covered by the Pioneer. From the side, the rocket looks smaller than the space shuttle, and the center of gravity must be extremely unbalanced.

But in fact, the Xinyuan-2A weighs about 3,500 tons after being filled with fuel, while the Pioneer is basically hollow, and now weighs just over 90 tons.

In the launch center, the huge Pioneer can be seen from 3 kilometers away with the naked eye, and the impact is stronger than that of the Xianyuan-3 rocket.

Director Huang found Lin Ju standing with Serev in the first three rows, and said with some helplessness:

"Mr. Lin, you have to find a way to get a special rocket transport vehicle. Our transport vehicle has been going back and forth many times for the Pioneer."

It turns out that unlike normal rocket launches, the Pioneer is too large and is very troublesome to hoist vertically. The large space shuttles of both Soyuz and Aramco are combined with the rocket horizontally, and then transported as a whole to the launch tower for erection.

Both Xinyuan Launch Site and Qiongzhou Launch Site still use general-purpose transfer vehicles, which can only transfer rockets vertically, so the Pioneer is also installed vertically, and the assembly building cannot accommodate it at all. Most of the time, it is operated in the open air, and the equipment and The work of the staff is very troublesome and exhausting.

Lin Ju did not expect this. Some time ago, he went to the capital to discuss the Mars mission. Qiongzhou was left to Serev.

The latter did not disappoint him, and took the initiative:

"I have contacted domestic construction machinery manufacturers to start customization. There will be many tasks for H2 in the future, and the two workstations at the Xinyuan launch site are not enough. Boss, we should expand the number of workstations. It is best to add two more. "

Lin Ju nodded. Coupled with Aber's cooperation agreement a few days ago, Xinyuan had enough money in its account. The two launch stations would not cost much money.

The three of them were chatting there. Not far away, Yevgeny Miklin and Vladimir Rachuk, a member of the OKB456 Design Bureau, were discussing the Pioneer, which was to be launched in an hour.

Rachuk: "Although the Xinyuan-2A is thinner than the Energy, it has greater thrust. The thrust of a single M220 is too great. 21 such engines have a thrust of nearly 4,700 tons.

Although the Energy can also achieve a thrust of more than 4,000 tons, it is still inferior if it cannot be recycled. "

Micklin: "Yes, the Xinyuan 2's grid rudder recovery method is too risky. It is like using chopsticks to catch the top of a broom thrown from the 10th floor. This requires too much electronic control technology. In the next five years, we will Don’t have this ability.”

Rachuk: "However, the lunar project also needs a giant rocket of this level. If it cannot be recycled, it will be too expensive. The Yenisey/Don rocket does not have this potential. For the long term, it must be recyclable." "

Miklin: "When Director Borisov comes this time, he may have the intention to purchase a customized Xinyuan recovery system. Maybe in this way we in Lucia will also have a recoverable rocket."

Rachuk: "This is not our technology! Unless they are willing to transfer the technology to us, Lucia's recyclable rocket is nothing but useless. As long as they turn off the rocket through satellite, we can't do anything!"

Moreover, it’s not like we don’t have recyclable rockets, right? We also have recycling technology available. "

Micklin: "You mean..."

Rachuk: "Energy No. 2, gliding recovery, the whole arrow can be reused, safer, and it has been mostly completed during the alliance period. Resurrect it, it is more practical than vertical recovery."

Miklin didn't know how to answer. He was more familiar with the Energy 2 rocket than Rachuk, but gliding recovery also had its own shortcomings: the dead weight was too high.

The mass of the eight-piece grille rudder of Xinyuan 2 will never exceed one ton, and the folding wings of the Energy No. 2 booster have almost the same mass.

But what Rachuk said makes sense. The technical difficulty of gliding recovery is much lower. At least Lucia's electronics industry can handle it. Other fancy recovery methods have too high requirements on the control system.

He looked at Yuri, who was chatting happily with the space agency in the distance, and thought about the cost and feasibility of Resurrection Energy 2.

…

"Countdown, 1 minute."

At 11:29, the sky was still clear, and the three rocket bodies of Xinyuan No. 2A emitted a large amount of white mist.

The live camera screen switched to the Pioneer fuselage and zoomed in. Its integrated heat insulation layer was very smooth, just like a passenger aircraft.

Spacecraft developers from NACA and the military-industrial complex who watched the broadcast through YouTube couldn't help but remain silent, deeply feeling the generational advantage of the Pioneer.

Integral full-life insulation tiles were studied in depth by Boeing at the beginning of the space shuttle program. However, it was not able to reach this level until the X37B and Dream Chaser eras.

"...7, 6, main engine ignition!"

The enhanced core stage of Xinyuan No. 2A was ignited first, and when their throttle valves were opened halfway, the two universal boosters began to ignite.

The seven M220s in the booster are tuned and pressurized to have greater thrust. A single M220 can output about 1,680 tons of thrust.

The exhaust flames of the 21 engines poured into the diversion trough below and ejected diagonally upward from the right side of the launch station. The diffused gas spread rapidly. Before completely surrounding the station, Xinyuan No. 2A took the Pioneer away. the launch pad.

Although the Pioneer's mass of more than 100 tons is not worth mentioning for a rocket body, the aerodynamic factors caused by the huge body in the atmosphere must be considered. At the same time, in order to adjust the center of gravity, the Pioneer had to be launched diagonally from the beginning.

The 21 engines are divided into multiple parts and swing to adjust the thrust direction to varying degrees, so that the Pioneer is above the tilted Xinyuan-2A rocket, flying into the sky on it like a bear lying on a raft.

Because the thrust weight is relatively low, the assembly can see an obvious movement trajectory at low altitude, and the long rocket tail flame swept through the woods about 1 kilometer long.

Director Huang: ...

Needless to say, such a high gas temperature would definitely burn a large area of ​​forest, and trees should not be planted near the launch site.

But the attention of the audience on the beach and in front of the camera was entirely on the Pioneer, which had a relatively long flight time in the atmosphere and could be seen clearly for a while.

The Xinyuan-2A, which could originally be described as a giant rocket, is as small as three missiles carried by a fighter jet under the Pioneer. The tail flame produced by the high-altitude methane engine is also very light in color, which looks quite contrasting.

The cross-sectional areas of the three 6-meter-diameter rocket bodies and the Pioneer are also extremely large. After breaking through the speed of sound, you can see the super atmospheric air ring in the middle of the assembly, which is clearly visible even at very high places.

The engine of Xinyuan No. 2A modified worked for a long time. It was not until the assembly became blurred in the ground camera that two white dots were finally seen separated from the assembly. They were the boosters that were separated and prepared for recovery.

The extra fuel added at the core level can support an additional 40 seconds of flight. After the Pioneer has taxied for a period of time, the main engine will work for another ten seconds to adjust before it can enter orbit.

There is no way. Strictly speaking, the Xinyuan-2A modification, like the Energy, does not have a second stage. The first stage can only send the space shuttle to a low orbit 200 kilometers outside the atmosphere. To reach an orbit of 300 to 400 kilometers, the space shuttle itself needs to be It flew for a while, but it didn't use much fuel.

In the launch center, the data sent back by the Pioneer itself and the detection system showed that it was normal and reached the predetermined speed, which basically meant that the launch was successful.

Serev also had a smile on his face, but suddenly froze.

Lin Ju looked over with concern: "What's wrong, Corvo?"

Serev: "I suddenly thought of a problem. When the core stage controlled the throttle valve during flight and flew for a longer time, it almost flew out of the atmosphere. Recovery from there is basically the same as recovery of the second stage. The rocket body... should be fine. Bar."