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

In Beijing, Lin Ju sat in the studio and accepted an interview after the evening news.

The duration of this interview is 2 hours, but the final release should be 10 to 15 minutes, so you can take it easy, or the director will have to edit it a few more times.

Sitting on the single sofa, the host sitting diagonally opposite motioned to the guide:

"Mr. Lin, the recording will start soon. You should have read all the questions we prepared. If there are any problems after the recording, you can modify or re-record."

Lin Ju nodded and the interview officially began.

Omitting some small questions that introduce background and hot topics, the host slowly entered the whole picture:

"Why do you think of starting an aerospace company? In most people's minds, aerospace seems to be a field where only investment has no return."

Lin Ju: "Many years ago, Aramco conducted a survey. Every 1 yuan invested in the aerospace field will generate a return of 7 to 12 yuan. This shows that aerospace was actually a profitable field a long time ago, but at that time It’s just indirect.”

Moderator: "So now Xinyuan Aerospace Power can already be directly rewarded?"

Lin Ju: "This depends on technological progress. The more advanced the technology, the lower the cost of use. Reusable rockets and spacecraft are the key. The manufacturing cost of the Shenzhou spacecraft is 1 billion yuan. The H1 space shuttle is more expensive, but If used twice, the unit price is lower than that of a spacecraft, and subsequent launches require only a small amount of money for maintenance."

Moderator: "However, no company has successfully recovered rockets before Xinyuan. How can you be sure that it will be successful?"

Of course it's cheating.

Lin Ju: "Technological progress is inevitable. It is abnormal for a rocket to be so expensive to make but to be discarded after being used only once. Besides, someone has tried it before us."

Host: "Is it Ma Yilong's specaX? But they achieved successful recycling later than you."

Lin Ju: "Space is open to all mankind. I admire Ma Yilong's bold attempt in the field of vertical rocket recovery. This is also the reason why I have firm confidence in this aspect. However, NACA and the Alliance have already tried it in the last century, but It failed due to the limitations of the times.”

Host: "Xinyuan Aerospace Power seems to have very strong technical support. Whether it is a recovery rocket or a heavy rocket, it is a success. Do you have any tips?"

Lin Ju: "I am not a rocket expert, and I have never been involved in technology, but I trust my engineers. Management positions are all technical. Let scientists do what they can and how they can do it. Let them decide. I I just want to find a way to provide financial and equipment support.”

Host: "There are also rumors that your company has many overseas Chinese and even foreigners joining it. Is this part of its technological leadership?"

Lin Ju: "We have quite a few outstanding scholars overseas, and the motherland is getting better and better. As long as they are given space to develop, they are willing to build the motherland."

Host (wanted to say something but gave up): "The Xinyuan-2 rocket has surpassed the Long March-5 heavy rocket under development by the National Space Administration. It is also the most powerful heavy rocket in Asia and the leading heavy rocket in the world. You also have the space shuttle. , as a private enterprise, what do you think can be done with these technologies?”

Lin Ju (smiling): "Since scientific exploration does not distinguish between national boundaries, it naturally does not distinguish between public and private. In modern history, many scientific researches were also supported by private individuals. In addition to maintaining necessary operations, Xinyuan Aerospace Power will continue to carry out external exploration plans. Never ending.”

"..."

After the interview was broadcast, Lin Ju's words "let scientists do what they do boldly" caused a huge response, especially within academia and space agencies.

The space agency was deeply shocked by the success of Xinyuan 2 and the H1 space shuttle, and held internal meetings one after another to find out the reasons. Now there is a place that can barely be attributed.

…

The Qiongzhou Xinyuan Space Launch Site is nearing completion thanks to the tireless work of the China Construction Bureau. The rocket that carried out the Xinyuan 2 Yao-3 mission has been sent into the newly built assembly building. While personnel and equipment are being replenished, personnel and equipment are being replenished. Prepare slowly.

Preparing a recyclable launch vehicle is a big project, especially for such a large rocket. Due to the shortage of manpower, Lin Ju coordinated many engineers from the space agency, and his own employees had to fly back and forth constantly.

Fortunately, Xinyuan Aerospace has carried out a major expansion of external recruitment and is expected to add 3,000 personnel before the end of the year. By then, there will be no more manpower problems.

The other Xinyuan 2 is still at the launch site of the Space Administration, and the Launch Administration did not urge Xinyuan to move it. Anyway, the Space Agency has no need now.

The Long March 5, 7, and 8 rockets launched here are now in trouble. Without Xinyuan's rockets, the Qiongzhou launch site would have no launch missions at all. Besides, using the launch site costs money on a daily basis. This is also a huge sum. income.

Unity, originally used as a backup, is still mounted on the rocket, waiting to be assigned a mission, with only routine maintenance once every three days.

A group of people from the space agency stood on the upper floor of the assembly building, staring at the blue glass portholes of Unity.

On July 30, the space agency sent a response letter to its cooperation with the Tiangong-2 mission:

The space agency accepted the quotation for transporting astronauts on Xinyuan 5, and also proposed some amendments to the XS-62 space station:

The space agency attaches great importance to the 620 cubic meters of space of the XS-62, and the 10-year design life is also very attractive, but they cannot accept that so much space is wasted for enjoyment;

They hope that the Fifth Academy will participate in the joint development of an improved "Tianhe" core module based on the XS-62, adjust the living facilities of the personnel, add scientific research equipment, refine the regional divisions, and turn it into a large space station with a permanent residence of 6 people. Only three 2.5-meter-wide square openings are retained at the interface, and the rest are changed to 0.9-meter-diameter round openings. It is expected that the cost of "Tianhe" will increase to 4 billion yuan due to the increase in scientific research facilities;

The space agency hopes to unify the interface standard with Xinyuan and obtain free authorization for the 0.9-meter-diameter round port.

After Lin Ju read it, his mind changed again. The space agency failed to resist the temptation and just extended "Tiangong" to "Tianhe".

He decided to agree to all these amendment proposals. They were all trivial matters. However, the nuclear aspect that he decided to discuss with the space agency next would probably be a difficult negotiation.

Lin Ju originally decided to fly to the capital in person, but the space agency came over on its own initiative, which surprised him.

And the standards were very high. In addition to the big bosses of the space agency and the space station chief engineers of the Fifth Institute, there were also people from the military.

Lin Ju received these visitors at the newly built B-level base.

The boss sat in the convoy sent by Xinyuan to pick up the plane and headed all the way to the B-level base outside the city, which is also the current main base of Xinyuan Aerospace Power.

More than an hour later, a huge space base appeared in front of him.

"Is that a launch tower over there?"

"That's right, leader. From now on, we will launch hundreds of tons of rockets here and ignite them as soon as they leave the factory. This is the best way to save time."

Well, Lin Ju is also sitting in the back row.

He actually felt that this space station cooperation plan should not require the big boss to come in person, but he was more happy. It was much easier to talk directly with the top person in charge.

After taking a group of people from the space agency around the huge base, the boss was full of emotion:

"Such a large space base can probably build the world's largest rocket!"

Lin Ju: "It's possible in theory, but it's impossible in practice. Leader, we have less than 500 people now, which is far from enough to fill this base. It will take at least a few thousand people. This will take a long time. The support of the country is very important." We matter."

Boss: "You are so humble. Now we need your support. If there is no powerful rocket for the Tianhe core module mission, it will be useless to build one.

The Long March 5 is the most powerful rocket we expect in the next ten years, but it is still much worse than the Xinyuan 2. "

Listening to the boss's praise, Lin Ju felt a little proud:

"They are all Chinese companies. Xinyuan Aerospace Power will definitely do its best for the country's projects!"

Boss: "Yes, you are a Chinese company with pure blood. This is very important, so we can cooperate even on some confidential projects."

Lin Ju was shocked. He felt that the boss would say something important next.

Boss: "Reusable spacecraft, especially aircraft, are widely used in military applications."

"You mean, X37B?"

Lin Ju quickly understood. This was obviously the unmanned space fighter project, the mysterious X37B aerospace plane that Ami was working on.

But essentially this is an unmanned space shuttle, but smaller and more advanced. Its take-off weight is smaller than H1, maybe a few tons, or maybe about ten tons.

The military must have had such a project, and it was also called a "reusable experimental spacecraft" in later generations. It was launched by the Long March 2F, so the weight should be about 8 to 10 tons.

Boss: "It seems that you are also familiar with these. What I mean is that some of the technologies of H1 are very common with our 'X37B', I will call it that for the time being, but this may involve your secrets." technology."

Lin Ju: "Can I know roughly which parts are needed?"

Boss: "The most important thing is the insulation tiles. We are still stuck in the previous generation, which is a little more advanced than the Aramco space shuttle, but far inferior to you."

Insulation tiles were a curse that accompanied the space shuttle from birth to death. It was precisely because of it that the space shuttle's flight costs remained high, accidents occurred frequently, and it eventually retired sadly.

Materials happen to be a weak link in China's scientific research, so there are still some problems.

Lin Ju thought for a while: "We can accept customization of insulation tiles, and the output is not low, so it should be able to meet the requirements."

The boss nodded: "That's good. We don't need to absolutely master the technology, but we can't do it in our current capacity. The confidentiality level of this project is too high. Even the basic parameters can be inferred from the data and shape of the insulation tiles, so the new Yuanyang Aerospace Power must obtain a confidentiality license and a weapons research license to become a link in the defense supply chain."

Lin Ju was silent for a while this time, because these two certificates meant that confidential personnel would be stationed, which was very detrimental to the system base. Fortunately, the boss said again:

"If that doesn't work, you can also jointly form a leather bag company, and the leather bag company will complete the final shape processing. This will be more troublesome, but it will not affect Xinyuan Aerospace Power."

"Okay." Lin Ju, who was still in a dilemma, immediately agreed, and then realized that he had been tricked when he saw the boss's smile.

This is obviously taking a step back to make progress. First, say something is impossible, and then step back a little to make yourself agree. This is the first time Brother Xun's theory has been demonstrated in front of him in a practical way!

Seeing Lin Ju's reaction, the boss laughed loudly and patted him on the shoulder: "Comrade Lin Ju, the organization will thank you for your contribution to the country. We will buy it at the market price. At the same time, Xinyuan can also propose its own Some demands.”

Lin Ju thought to himself, then I won’t be polite:

"Leader, Xinyuan has some trouble with the materials for a project. Maybe it needs some support?"

"What's the trouble? As long as China has it, it can be solved."

"We need some plutonium and uranium to build a reactor."

"..."