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

On July 23, the space agency finally submitted its first important aerospace cooperation project to Xinyuan Aerospace Power:

The backup of the Tiangong-1 space station, the Tiangong-2 space station, will be launched earlier than the originally planned launch in 2016, and will be launched on the Long March 2F in October this year.

The Shenzhou-11 spacecraft, which was originally planned to dock with Tiangong-2, will be replaced by Xinyuan's H1 space shuttle, which will transport three astronauts and 500 kilograms of cargo to Tiangong-2 in November, and then carry it 30 days later. The astronauts return.

Then the Fifth Academy will successfully develop the "Tianzhou-1" cargo spacecraft before April next year, launch it and dock with Tiangong-2, operate as a combination and continue to receive astronauts.

After a month of internal quarrels, the space agency finally unified its internal opinion, which is to put aside other tasks for the time being and hand over tasks that have the ability but no time to speed up the process of the space program.

The H1 cargo version "Progress" can send 3 people or 4.5 tons of cargo into space, and the passenger version "Solidarity" can transport 6 people at one time. The former's data is very valued by the space agency.

Not only is it more convenient and faster, but the most important thing is that it is cheap and fast. No matter how the price is set, it is definitely cheaper than the Long March 2F plus Shenzhou spacecraft. It can be launched once a month. This saves both money and cost.

In terms of docking with Tiangong-2, the docking port of H1 is a 0.9-meter round port. Although it is not compatible with the 0.85-meter round port of Tiangong-2, changing the docking port of Tiangong-2 is not a big project, and the gap is so big. Small.

Lin Ju attached great importance to the space station cooperation plan sent by the space agency. Instead of making his own decision, he called in the system engineer for reference.

Guo Shen browsed through the entire plan, clasped his hands and said:

"There are no technical problems. We can also provide the standard for modifying the interface, but to be honest, the order is too small."

Androv took over the topic: "The cost of reusing H1 once is about 18 to 23 million. If it is launched in October... I will try my best to complete the K380V engine project and the four boosters of Xinyuan 5 before September. The manufacturing will be completed in August, and the core-stage rocket body has also been completed, only the engine is missing;

The mission in October will use the Xinyuan 5 rocket. The cost of sending them up is about 50 million. The price quoted will be based on the price of commercial aerospace minus astronaut training costs. 0.5 tons of cargo will be given away for free, and the total quotation will be 350 million; if The Xinyuan-2 rocket is too expensive. The cost alone is less than 160 million, and the total cost is at least 600 million. "

Lin Ju calculated the price of the Long March 2F in his mind, and adding that the Shenzhou spacecraft was around 1 billion, even using Xinyuan 2 to launch it would save half the money.

"It's not too small. Send them both quotes. If it can be half cheaper by using Xinyuan 5, the space agency will accept it if they are so prudent."

Guo Shen: "I also have an idea to make this project bigger."

…

"Look, they have a new rocket. This Xinyuan 5 uses kerosene engines, and its transport capacity is just right. The cost must have come down drastically, otherwise they would not have quoted us half the price of Xinyuan 2."

At the space agency, the director put Xinyuan's quotation on the projector and handed it over to everyone for discussion.

"That's for sure. The second stage of Xinyuan 2 is too expensive, and it also requires a lot of trouble to monitor and control the transshipment. The kerosene machine used by Xinyuan 5 is much cheaper, and the cost can be reduced by at least 60%."

"Let's use Xinyuan 5 rocket. Although it is a new model, they will definitely launch one or two unmanned flights first. Moreover, the body technology of this medium-sized rocket is very mature, so there should be no problems."

"The price of 350 million is the same as their price for external commercial spaceflight, which is much cheaper than Shenzhou 11."

After some discussion, everyone agreed on Xinyuan’s quotation and felt it was a good deal.

But it was obvious that the matter was not over yet. The director clicked on Zhao Shu, the deputy chief engineer of the space station of the Fifth Institute, and everyone's attention was focused on him.

Zhao Zhu stepped forward and opened a new PPT from the USB flash drive.

"Everyone, Chief Engineer Guo Shen mentioned the space station by the way when talking to me. They believe that the XS-62 space station they are designing can be docked with Tiangong-2, which will help improve the living conditions of astronauts and dock the spacecraft.

XS-62 has a node module with five docking ports. One of the docking ports perpendicular to the axis is a 0.9-meter round port, which can be docked with the modified Tiangong-2 interface; then they changed the opposite port of this docking port to 0.9 Round mouth, used for docking with the H1 space shuttle.

In this way, our astronauts can move to live in XS-62. If major renovations are carried out, it can be increased to 6 bedrooms and 2 separate bathrooms, and there will still be 560 cubic meters of space while living comfortably. "

Then an imaginary picture of the combination of XS-62, H1, and Tiangong-2 appeared on the projection screen. In the picture, Tiangong-2 is in front of the XS-62, which is 36 meters long and 7.6 meters in diameter. The 10-meter length and 3.35-meter diameter make It looks like a small pudding.

But everyone knows that the price of the "little pudding" equipped with many experimental equipment is actually several times that of the XS-62, which feels really awkward.

"How long is their cabin designed to operate in orbit?"

After a long time, someone finally asked a question.

"In 10 years, the price of the space station is 1 billion yuan, and the single launch of Xinyuan 2 is 500 million yuan, totaling 1.5 billion yuan. They said the construction period is five months. Xinyuan now has the ability to build two at the same time."

After Zhao Zhu finished speaking, the audience immediately began to whisper again. Some people involved in the design of the space station and spacecraft began to discuss in a low voice:

"RMB 1.5 billion is enough for a cabin like this. I think 6 people are too few. Even if we put 10 people in their luxury single room, it would be rich, which is equivalent to 150 million a year. It can also accommodate five cabins. It is a good deal no matter how you look at it. .”

"Tiangong-2 only costs 1 billion, which is just a dollar. The tourist cabin alone is cheap..."

Zhao Zhu couldn't help but sigh when he looked at the people discussing fiercely below.

What Guo Shen told Lin Ju to "make the project bigger" was to sell a tourist capsule to the space agency, but what he brought to Xinyuan was far more than a single profit.

The internal volume of XS-62 is dozens of times that of Tiangong-2. If they are used to such a comfortable space station, are they still willing to go back to their own small room?

And after purchasing the XS-62, the space agency will never be so stingy when designing the cabin. Not to mention anything else, the design is too small to even have space to install a 2.5-meter docking port. It must be arranged at least 5 meters above.

For space stations of this level, apart from the Long March 5, only Xinyuan has the ability to launch. The Chang 5 is far away, so obviously this will force the space agency to choose Xinyuan 2, and the latter is very cheap, only 500 million per launch. .

No matter how much the cost of the Long March 5 is saved, it cannot be reduced to less than 1 billion, and it is absolutely impossible to achieve a price advantage.

Lin Ju chose to acquiesce to the fact that Guo Shen represented the first time that Xinyuan Aerospace showed its fangs of capital.

The aerospace market is limited. In addition to creating demand, grabbing demand is also an important means. Xinyuan has a great cause and sometimes it must be done. Besides, this is also normal business logic!

I just don’t know what the space agency will do. Will it insist on maintaining its own closed system, or will it completely open up to Xinyuan?

I think the next chapter needs some modifications, and I will release the next chapter in the afternoon~