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

Beijing, State Guesthouse.

"Dinner to celebrate the success of Tianmu-4 blasting mission"

In order to celebrate the success of the Canopy Project and entertain other foreign aerospace cooperation organizations in Beijing, the Aerospace Development Commission chartered a building here to hold a dinner.

But there were more than just people present. Several private aerospace companies were also invited, making the entire venue lively.

Lin Ju had just finished entertaining a round of toasting crowds when he saw his old acquaintance Prince Sweetan standing in a crowd not far away, communicating with Zhong Cheng, and raised his glass to indicate his gaze from a distance.

Lin Ju also responded immediately. When it came to the lunar mission, Aber was a little unable to keep up, but he was still an important partner of the Aerospace Development Commission.

After that, he barely had time to chat with Long Jiacheng, who was sitting at the same table.

Last year, Long Jiacheng's Lingxi Space Communications secured significant investment from Xinyuan and began building the Lingxi Satellite Internet of Things, which has been quite effective so far.

"Mr. Lin, so far we have launched 2,300 satellites and conducted 80 launches. Next, we plan to double this speed and reach the networking goal of 10,000 satellites in 2020!"

Although Lingxi IoT is positioned to compete with Starlink for low-orbit resources, it has not chosen to be as shoddily manufactured as the first-generation Starlink. The mass of a single satellite is about 300 to 500 kilograms. In the past year or so, a total of about 1,100 tons of payload has been launched.

This directly enabled Lingxi Company to become a space communications giant. It has begun to connect with the "Jingwei" satellite network and gradually entered applications.

The addition of "Lingxi Network" has made Xinyuan's original satellite Internet service more convenient, more stable and faster, and Xinyuan has begun to reap rewards.

Long Jiacheng did not miss every opportunity to hug his thighs, and kept reporting to Lin Ju the latest achievements and future plans of Lingxi Company, and the latter nodded frequently.

"It will be good if Lingxi.com maintains its current situation. The prices of small and medium-sized rockets have come down, right?"

"It can't be lowered anymore. Now we have four launch contractors, and the lowest quotation for medium-sized rockets has dropped to 18,000 yuan per kilogram."

The medium-sized rockets Long Jiacheng refers to have a transport capacity between 20 and 30 tons. Now China has vaguely raised the capacity standard for heavy-duty rockets to about 50 tons.

There is no way. With Xinyuan's mature technology output, the threshold for building a rocket is almost the same as building a car, and it may even be easier. If the Aviation Development Commission had not strictly restricted bottom-line price wars, I am afraid that some companies would have dared to touch 10,000 yuan. quotation.

Of course, 10,000 yuan per kilogram is not much money to make, but today is different from the past. The demand for domestic commercial space launches has been soaring, and it has reached the point where profits can be made based on volume.

However, the industry is actually not satisfied yet, because Xinyuan’s aerospace aircraft are in service one after another. Even if they are not involved in commercial operations now, what about in the future?

According to gossip, Tengyun’s pure material cost per kilogram is only 100 yuan!

Although it could not be confirmed, Long Jiacheng absolutely believed in the subversive ability of aerospace aircraft, and even more so, he gave up the idea of ​​participating in the rocket market and focused on developing satellites.

Relying on Lingxi.com, Lingxi Company is now the largest satellite manufacturing company in China and even the world...

Lin Ju is quite satisfied with this situation. Xinyuan exports technology and cultivates the market. The existence of Lingxi proves that the development of private capital is quite rapid, which further confirms some of his ideas.

“Does Lingxi have any plans to continue expanding its business?”

Extension? The current satellite network is already exhausted.

A negative answer immediately rose in Long Jiacheng's heart, but when his words came to his lips, he changed to:

"Of course, it's just that we haven't found a definite direction yet."

"What do you think of a space port? I mean the kind of space building that can carry out in-depth repairs and modifications of large spacecrafts, and even have certain on-orbit manufacturing capabilities."

"Spaceport?!"

Long Jiacheng held his breath. When he mentioned large spacecraft, he immediately thought of the Advance, that two-thousand-ton behemoth. According to conventional thinking, such a large combination could basically only be repaired and transformed by itself.

If we want a spaceport that can accommodate it, how many tons should it have? Is 10,000 tons enough? How many resources need to be invested?

"Yes, the space port, I think is more similar to a small and comprehensive industrial complex. It is best to add a planting part and get rid of the constraints of the ground as much as possible, but this is not the most important thing."

What Lin Ju is describing is actually a synchronous orbital space station that will serve as the terminal of a space elevator in the future. According to the judgment of experts from the Academy of Sciences, it is believed that a practical space elevator can be built around 2030 without harming national strength.

By then, most consumables can be transported cheaply through the ground. Only some high-precision devices that rely on microgravity will need to be manufactured in space, but the most important thing is to assemble the spacecraft.

The practical life of nuclear fusion propulsion is almost at this point in time. Naturally, a spaceship designed for combat objectives cannot be a loose configuration like the Advance. Such an assembly method lacks the required maneuverable orbital change capability.

Assembly in orbit and tightly connected as a whole through welding and other methods is currently the most feasible solution. This means that a super shipyard is required for assembly in space, rather than the current simple docking solution.

But before that, a small experimental spaceport must be built first, which can also be used for the development of lunar resources. It is not a waste and will serve as a training ground for future super spaceports.

Like the development of the moon, Lin Ju also plans to involve the entire industry in the construction of future space ports, spaceships, etc., and even spread the supply chain across the country.

"In addition to building an industrial complex around the lunar smelting base, the committee may also build a port-style production/scientific research center in low-Earth orbit. My idea is... like a city, do you understand?"

"I thought about it, maybe it could rotate like a big ring, or it could be a big cylinder with people living on the walls. The center part has no gravity and is where the production area or scientific research area is...

Mr. Lin, this is too big. If you want to meet your goal, it must accommodate at least hundreds or even thousands of people. According to the quota mass of 20 to 30 tons per person, that is a super creation of more than 20,000 tons! "

Long Jiacheng shook his head as he spoke. He even thought that he had misunderstood. Even if the moon had a lot of resources, it would not be worth the effort to build such a super spaceport.

"Two to thirty thousand tons...it's actually not much, is it?"

Lin Ju said something that made Long Jiacheng stunned, and then analyzed by himself:

"Xinyuan 4 was launched twenty or thirty times, and the starship was launched a hundred times. In fact, there are really not many."

Of course, it was difficult to pass the space port construction plan in the past, but now it is necessary to get the project approved. He believes that it is similar with NACA.

"In October, maybe earlier or later, there may be important announcements or important meetings in the domestic aerospace industry. You can discuss this idea with others in advance."