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

Among all the solutions, the module cluster form is the simplest, and its technical route is very close to that of Tiangong and the International Space Station. It means that different functional components are connected and installed together, and subsequent maintenance is also very convenient.

However, the shortcomings are also obvious. The strength of this assembly method is too low for a space port of more than 10,000 tons, and the orbit change capability is extremely poor. At the same time, the size of each module limits the upper limit of the space port, but for small experimental ports It's acceptable.

The second one goes a step further and mainly improves the potential of the space port, but it requires on-orbit processing and assembly capabilities and a large amount of manpower.

The third type of overall rotating gravity type is quite advanced. It has the same configuration as the giant spaceport that will be launched in the future. It is huge in size and has strong expansion potential. It can also provide different gravity environments, but it also brings a straight line between cost and construction difficulty. The rise also poses considerable challenges to designers.

The current rotating gravity space station Advance has an empty load of only 1,500 tons. Expanding it 10 times or even 20 times will require a new structural design, otherwise the centrifugal force of rotation will tear the spaceport itself apart.

When an object with a weight of tens of thousands of tons and a span of more than 200 meters begins to rotate, every second is a huge test for the load-bearing structure, and most of the design team's energy must be focused on this.

In terms of project volume, the first two options were the most reliable, but there were many supporters of the radical route. In the end, all three options were put on the stage, and then a comprehensive decision was made.

…

Perhaps knowing that the representatives from various companies who rushed to join the meeting were unprepared, at this time, staff entered the auditorium to distribute technical manuals. Long Jiacheng, sitting in the front row, was almost the first to get it.

After picking it up, I found that this technical manual, which is not too thin, does not have any unnecessary decoration. It is either data or patterns. It describes the basic structure and some details of the three argumentation schemes in detail.

The introduction of the plan is very detailed, and even people who are not in the aerospace industry can basically understand it.

After the introduction of the plan, there are several pages of densely packed professional areas, which are the parts that need to be solved by the participating companies' industries.

It’s not that these existing aerospace companies haven’t done it before, but the space port is too big, and quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes, and it also puts forward new requirements for quantity and quality.

For example, the simplest ventilation system and air-conditioning system are not impossible for Xinyuan and the space agency. However, for a project as big as the spaceport, there are too many projects involved and not enough energy. It is more appropriate to hand it over to specialized companies.

In the past, whether it was various spacecrafts or space stations, they were all facilities with hundreds of tons or thousands of tons. The production demand was very small, so aerospace companies just made it.

However, this is not the case for the spaceport project. Each subsystem may require a specialized supplier, and the maintenance costs after completion are enough to support a large number of parts companies.

Long Jiacheng's eyes quickly scanned the lines of text, and then he took out the signature pen he had prepared long ago and began to check.

This is an unprecedented opportunity. Even if he chooses a field that he is not good at at all, once he conquers it, it will bring unimaginable benefits. He needs to choose all possible fields to get involved in.

Private aerospace companies like him who had more contact with Xinyuan responded the fastest, but others were not weak at all. The people who were still whispering quickly quieted down and concentrated on reading the brochures in their hands, and then roughly selected their own companies to undertake subsystem scope.

The silence lasted for about a few minutes, and suddenly someone in the front row raised his hand.

Zhong Cheng immediately nodded and asked someone to hand over the microphone. Others quickly focused their attention on the person who stood up, and noticed the "TISCO" logo on the person's chest.

He is still wearing work clothes, he is about forty or fifty years old, and he should be a chief engineer level figure.

"Hello Director Zhong, I noticed that there is no mention of steel demand. For example, if the empty weight of a spaceport is 40,000 tons, at least 10,000 tons are skeleton structures. How can we meet such a large steel demand?"

Zhong Cheng: "Of course there is a demand for this. We temporarily plan to supply it through the future lunar steel complex, which is more convenient and easier. The cost of supplying it to the earth is too high."

Someone immediately chuckled after hearing this explanation. Even though the spaceport is huge, steel companies can only develop a few new materials, and they cannot compare with other suppliers in terms of share or technical capabilities.

However, the chief engineer did not show any disappointed expression. He nodded and sat down. Then Zhong Cheng's voice sounded:

"This invitation to Taigang is also because of the Lunar Steel Smelting Complex. United Mining has selected Taigang as a partner to jointly build the steel complex at the Yushu base. I hope you can actively cooperate."

At this time, the chief engineer of Taiyuan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. showed a smiling expression at the right time, causing the mentality of others to immediately change to jealousy.

Lunar joint steel company!

I thought I couldn't catch up, but I didn't expect that they had already entered the game.

With TISCO taking the lead, someone else quickly stood up, but they still asked questions:

“I noticed that the spaceport plan is only part of the ‘Southern Gate’. Does this mean there will be more and larger space building plans in the future?”

Zhong Cheng: “The naming of the first spaceport is still being solicited, but what I can reveal is that the first spaceport is experimental in nature, and the second is formal in nature, and may have a mass of more than 150,000 tons.

In addition, there will be many construction plans for celestial bodies and extraterrestrial planets on a scale similar to the space port in the future. The cycle of the "Southern Gate" project will be more than 20 years. "

This remark reassured everyone. It was simply saying that this business could last for 20 years, and it would definitely not be a loss to invest in research and development.

"Then our Juli Group hopes to undertake the traction cable part of the rotating gravity part, as well as the external fixed ropes."

"Well, the staff has registered now, please contact after the meeting."

Zhong Cheng replied immediately, and at the same time cast an encouraging look at others.

"Sunshine Energy can undertake the design of backup generator sets and all-electric basic power systems! We have designed for supply ships and have similar experience!"

"We have experience in water circulation systems and can combine them with air circulation systems!"

"We can do instruments and lighting."

"What are the requirements for fire extinguishing devices? Can you find out later?"

"Fire extinguishing devices, we can also do it!"

"..."

Long Jiacheng looked at the enthusiastic crowd and finally raised his hand.

The representative of Tianbing Aerospace came over to see the sub-projects he circled, and Long Jiacheng simply said it directly: "Lingxi hopes to take over the internal communication control system of the entire spaceport and unify the interface standards of each part." "Unified standards?" Long Jiacheng smiled slightly: "We have the RX02 bus protocol license of Xinyuan, which is just right for cooperation." The other party's pupils shrank immediately. It was definitely an amazing project to contract the communication system. He quickly flashed over and started to look for similar projects, ready to raise his hand at any time.

...

B-level base.

He Tang stood on the runway of the base, raised his hands to block the sun with other people from the Aviation Development Commission, and looked hard at the clouds in the sky.

There were many people gathered around them, most of whom were employees of the base, and the others were basically personnel from the space agency and the military. They all observed the sky from time to time.

Drones kept flying around the airport to prevent any outsiders from approaching, but in fact, they could not hide anything.

Seven days ago, the Enterprise took off from the Northwest Second Experimental Base and entered space. After orbiting the earth several times, it docked with the Tiangong Space Station.

In September, the Tiangong Space Station suspended tourism reception for 15 days due to the lunar blasting operation, which was just enough to keep the Enterprise secret.

During these 7 days, the astronauts of the Tiangong Space Station and Shelev and others conducted multiple extravehicular operations to ensure that the angular shape of the Enterprise was not deformed or damaged due to the intense friction of the atmosphere. At the same time, they checked that there were no faults in the electromechanical system and the power system before approving the landing operation.

Unlike takeoff, the Enterprise needs to use the aerodynamic shape to slow down and brake to save fuel when landing. It will circle around the landing center. When approaching landing, it is easy to pass through densely populated areas at low altitude, losing the confidentiality conditions during takeoff.

So far, only Amei has discovered the abnormality of the Enterprise in the world, because the Aerospace Development Commission did not even disclose this experimental operation to the public. It was not until now that it was forced to decrypt the Enterprise.

As described in the original technical data of NPAE, the "Everest" engine belongs to the last generation of rocket jet engines. Like the A100, it is the pinnacle of the traditional technology route and squeezes out the last value of the existing aerospace propulsion theory.

The technological shock it brought to other organizations is absolutely beyond imagination, but now is not the time to care so much, and strengthening oneself is the urgent task.

"Has the Enterprise entered the atmosphere now? Did it enter from Central Asia or the northwest?"

He Tang asked the engineer of the Fourth Academy next to him, but the other party also shook his head:

"It's hard to say, it depends on how they choose."

Unlike any previous aircraft and spacecraft, the Enterprise has a very high flexibility in returning to the atmosphere. If you want to save fuel and reduce risks, you can slowly glide and use aerodynamic deceleration. The span is particularly large, not much different from the space shuttle.

But if it is impossible to fly a large span due to special reasons, it can also circle around a vertical line and descend quickly, but the fuel required to adjust the attitude is more and the risk is greater.

These two are only extreme cases. AI can flexibly adjust according to the actual situation, and there is no need for the ground to specially plan the route.

...

Over Kazakhstan.

Meng Senlin finally understood the feeling described by the lunar team. When they were riding on the Jiuzhang, because of its special configuration, the thrust was not always coming from a certain direction. The unfixed thrust direction and attitude can make people dizzy in a few times, and it takes a long time to adapt.

In fact, the situation of the Enterprise was more serious than theirs, because there was an additional aerodynamic deceleration program. Although the Enterprise's general moving route was a smooth transition line, it would adjust its attitude every few seconds, or suddenly start to decelerate in a large circle in a certain airspace.

Except for the flight computer, no one knew what attitude the Enterprise would adopt in the next second. The acceleration was sometimes up and sometimes down, but more often it could appear in any direction without any rules.

Even if this acceleration was not large, it was more uncomfortable than the high overload in a single direction.

Shelev, who was still feeding chicken soup to the flight crew 7 days ago, was silent now. The landing process was much more uncomfortable than taking off. Even a strong body could not bear it. He just closed his eyes and took a deep breath to fight the dizziness in his mind.

Meng Senlin still maintained his state. He was now a member of the Space Force, and of course he had to do his best to adapt to his weapons.

"..."

The Enterprise once again began to perform aerodynamic deceleration in a spiral, but because its main motion was still gliding at high speed, it looked from the ground like a leaf spinning and falling in the wind, completely out of control - "товарищ, товарищ! Этодальневосточное пространство!" A rapid grunt suddenly came from the Enterprise's radio. No one in the flight crew could understand Russian, but Shelev suddenly opened his eyes and looked out the window. "It's the Far East Air Defense Force. They are asking if we need help. They think our spacecraft is out of control." Meng Senlin glanced at the radar. There was no change on it. The Enterprise was still tens of thousands of meters high. The radar was mainly used to detect mountains and weather, and small things such as airplanes could not be seen. However, even if it was out of control, I'm afraid the air defense force would not be able to help. "Chief Engineer Xie, please tell them that we are in good condition and thank them for their kindness."

"No problem, connect me to the channel... Drogoydavrika..."

...

"They said there is no fault ()!"

In front of the Enterprise, the MiG-31 pilot who was taking over the observation and his wingman were also communicating about the strange aircraft in the sky.

From the moment the Enterprise entered the atmosphere, it was discovered by Lucia's extensive monitoring network, and then reported immediately, and the Kremlin issued instructions to pay attention to this strange unknown aircraft.

Along the border, there were constantly air teams taking off for escort, but the Enterprise was flying too high in the previous section and did not find anything.

It was not until now that Andre saw the huge radiation source on the radar and its rather unstable signal characteristics.

"What the hell is this, it's spinning, it's spinning! Is it a UFO!"

The wingman pilot first thought of a flying saucer. After all, only a flying saucer would spin and fall like this. If it was a human spacecraft in such a posture, it would definitely have the fate of crashing.

"Follow closely, it's about to enter China's airspace!"

Andre looked up and saw a constantly flickering and extremely unstable light object, which really looked like a UFO.

The Enterprise was much faster than the interceptors, and it was still five times the speed of sound, and soon it would overtake them and enter China's airspace.

The two planes immediately turned around and began to return, but the four pilots were still discussing the Enterprise.

"I bet it's not a winged aircraft, maybe a reusable rocket."

"The rocket would have broken long ago! It must be round, it's a Chinese flying saucer!"

"There are astronauts in it, and they can communicate with us, maybe it's a space plane!"

"..."