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

Chapter 664 SS-5

April 24, Qiongzhou, Wenchang launch site.

After 9 months, the Long March 10 rocket was once again put on the launch pad.

This time, the Shuguang 4 spacecraft was launched. The next Shuguang 5 spacecraft is expected to be launched in July. Then the Shuguang spacecraft + Long March ten-piece combination will become extinct.

Oleg Kononenko sat on the electric bus heading to the launch pad and looked at the entire Wenchang launch site intently.

There is no difference from the memory, but the difference is that the launch mission it undertakes is far different.

All four stations at the current launch site are occupied. Two Xinyuan-2 rockets are carrying Tianwen-1 and Tianwen-2, and one Xinyuanyang-2 rocket is sent to space to transport the external liquid hydrogen fuel tank of Typhoon. No. 1, and the Long March 10 he is about to ride on.

In the next more than half a month, the Wenchang launch site will need to undertake four large-scale launch missions. Together with the Typhoon that is not yet in place at the Xinyuan launch site next to it, that is five launches.

That is to say, several other launch stations are closed, otherwise you can see a rocket ready to go standing in each station.

That is to say, the scheduler is really too busy and has suspended the H1 series launch missions from mid-April to the end of May. Otherwise, there may even be a magical situation where all launch stations across the country are not enough.

The four astronauts on the Dawn 4 mission are all from different countries this time. Commander Meng Senlin, deputy commander Oleg Kononenko, Chinese astronaut Thomas Specka, Italian astronaut Jusser Pei Chaney, the perfect United Nations lineup.

Among them, Giuseppe will be responsible for the orbiting and staying mission, and the remaining three will land and stay on the lunar surface for 5 days. They are expected to return on May 4 or 5.

In addition to the Shuguang 4 spacecraft launched by Wenchang, the Lucia Plesetsk launch site will launch a "Proton-M" rocket, Guyana will launch a light rod VV-1, and send two 5-ton and 9-weight rockets to the Utu space station. The cargo spacecraft carries living supplies and scientific research equipment for use by astronauts.

According to the latest revised terms of the Huayin Organization, all parties will jointly fund the docking rights of the Wutu Space Station with an annual maintenance fee of 2.5 billion yuan. This landing will pay 850 million yuan for the maintenance and material consumption of the Yushu base. Otherwise, The gap between the Dawn Project and the Canopy Project is too great.

As the Huayin Organization's nominally first cooperative exploration mission, at least on the surface, the Dawn-4 mission is quite luxurious.

Especially since you can live directly in the Yushu base that has been built, with fresh food, hot water and a room, it is not like the first moon landing.

However, this rent is recognized by the other three major countries with pinched noses. They cannot let their own people squeeze into the "Full Moon" lander and then enjoy life while watching the brightly lit Yushu base a few kilometers away.

In fact, the remaining six modules of the Yushu base are planned to be launched and assembled before July. The space agency has also proposed direct purchase of ready-made products within the Huayin organization, which is both safe and cost-saving, but it does not go well.

But these have nothing to do with the astronauts of Tianmu 4. For them personally, the only thing worth caring about is landing on the moon. Everything else is something that the country needs to consider.

At 10 a.m., the Long March 10 rocket took off with the Shuguang 4 spacecraft.

The Beijing Command Center was still busy with people coming and going, but they had become numb to the frequent space launches and did not celebrate as enthusiastically as the space agencies of other countries connected.

Zhong Cheng, who was supervising the scene, made a brief appearance and left in a hurry. In three days, the intensive and frequent Mars exploration mission will begin. The launch schedule is as numerous as bus schedules. Dawn 4 is only worthy of a little attention.

…

Gulf of Mexico, Boca Chica.

Sixteen hours after Dawn 4 was launched, the Starship SS-5 assembly was also ready for launch.

Exactly 11 months have passed since the launch of Starship SS-1. In less than a year, SpecaX will launch its fifth giant rocket with a take-off thrust of more than 6,000 tons, which will make Boeing's SLS feel ashamed.

It has been more than a year since Musk’s slogan of one launch per month was shouted out. Although SpecaX did not achieve one launch per month, it did ensure that one launch per month was produced, or even more.

All the extra time spent is spent on repairing defects and modifications. Through intensive launch missions, the starship is indeed making continuous progress.

For Tom Mueller, all the technical issues required for the one-time launch of the starship assembly have been solved. The first four launches fully exposed all the hidden dangers. He is convinced that there is no way to change it, so this is the reason for this An SS-5 launch plan.

What if it still fails?

No matter what, the collection problem continues to be improved. Anyway, NACA's procurement blood transfusion can afford to bomb five more SpecaXs.

What is somewhat different from the original world line is that because Tesla's Magic City Super Factory is blocked, even with Aramco's manufacturing repatriation subsidies, the electric vehicle business has not become Musk's biggest financial pillar.

Tesla in China can only rely on imports for sales. After experiencing heavy tariffs, it is uncompetitive in front of domestic brands and was almost beaten to the ground by Xin'an.

However, the aerospace business has brought huge profits, so much so that Tom wanted to suggest that Musk marginalize electric vehicles. Looking at NACA's huge space programs, just exposing a part of it is enough to turn SpecaX into a behemoth.

He looked at Musk, who was staring intently at the rocket parameters:

"Elon, what do you think are our chances of success this time?"

"We are succeeding every time, just moving from one stage of success to another."

Musk's answer was in line with his usual character, and Tom smiled:

"Then I say that SS-5 will successfully enter orbit, but it is still far from launching a payload."

"Tom, you don't believe in steering surface differential technology?"

"I believe it, but I don't believe it can do what you want at Mach 10."

The most helpless thing for Tom is Musk's insistence on cheapness, just like the starship spacecraft does not have an attitude control system - RCS.

It’s not that he doesn’t plan to equip it, but Musk wants to try not using traditional RCS and rely only on engine corrections and four huge rudder surfaces to complete the required work.

Previously, he used a similar idea to launch the starship "streaking" with a steel shell and then failed miserably. The same is true now. Only half of the insulation tiles were attached, hoping to use only that side to resist the ablation of the atmosphere.

From these aspects, the second-level starship spacecraft is just a steel shell with an engine. It is heavy, has strong vibration, and cannot undertake high-precision launch missions. At the same time, it is expected that it can only send the payload to a low orbit of 150 kilometers. Fly up with your own power.

So far, the starship spacecraft has only reached about 30% of the completion rate he expected, and it is still far from being officially put into use.

Even if SS-5 enters orbit this time, it does not mean that it can begin to undertake missions. The starship is a super big thing, and it is not easy to handle even one-time launch requirements.

The biggest benefit is for the NSS. A successful one-time launch means that DARPA will spend a lot of money to invest in nuclear power transformation. Those are the cronies of the Hexagon. They have countless money to squander.

Tom knew that the progress of the "Helios 5" nuclear engine prepared for the NSS nuclear-powered starship was much slower than that of the A105. The earlier it was approved by DARPA, the sooner the starship could be put into use.