Interstellar Energy Tycoon

December 10.

Fudong Province, Zhangquan City, Tianlong Aerospace Company.

After a few months, Li Xingyang visited this company again.

After the Marriott meeting, using the short and precious time of less than half a year, the nine private aerospace companies in the "Space Launch Alliance" received support funds, and immediately invested in the work of the 996 type after returning.

While continuing to develop.

While sharing and learning each other's technology.

Each company has also selected the most capable R\u0026D personnel to form a "great team" to concentrate the best R\u0026D resources and work together to create the most perfect rocket.

In this way, it can not only greatly reduce the cost of research and development, avoid waste of resources, but also share the intellectual property rights of the rocket, which can be produced and launched.

Even in order to save manufacturing costs, there has been a detailed division of labor in which Blue Arrow Aerospace is responsible for the electromechanical system, Interstellar Glory is responsible for the casing, Galaxy Power is responsible for the control system, and Tianlong Aerospace is responsible for the engine production. No longer does every company do everything and repeatedly manufacture wheels , Engage in a detailed division of labor, the cost of rocket development can be greatly reduced, and the efficiency and reliability will also be improved. No company can refuse the advantages brought by this division of labor.

now.

The scale has expanded a lot in the large factory buildings.

On a long flatbed trailer.

A huge sausage-like rocket lies flat on the platform, with a length of about 50 meters and a diameter of 3.35 meters. It has already been produced off the production line, and it can be pulled out for launch just by injecting aerospace kerosene and liquid oxygen.

Facing this rocket, Fang Yujun introduced from the side: "President Li, you may not believe it, this rocket named 'Xingli No. In just over four months, a brand-new rocket was developed and finalized. With the wisdom of nine aerospace companies, all the longboard technologies at the bottom of the box were applied to this rocket. No one kept secrets. , I just want to create a rocket with low cost, high reliability, simple production, and a carrying capacity that meets the requirements."

"Xingli 1 is a two-stage structure with a modular production design. The maximum launch weight is 330 tons, and the carrying capacity of the 850-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit is 3.2 tons. It adopts an unsupported launch design and does not need to build a special launch site. , As long as you get a flat land, you can also use the space launch ship to launch at sea, which is more flexible, and you can actively look for suitable launch opportunities and have more launch windows.”

"The most important thing is that the manufacturing cost of this rocket can be reduced from the current 700 yuan/kg to below 300 yuan/kg after mass production, or even lower, because we have canceled a lot of redundant backups. The Yu system has tried every means to reduce even 1 gram of excess weight, while trying to improve the thrust and reliability of the rocket, it is also trying to reduce the manufacturing cost of the core components of the rocket engine. This happens to be the strength of our Tianlong Aerospace. Our newly developed Tianhuo-41 engine has increased thrust by 15%, reduced weight by 10%, and increased engine production efficiency by as much as three times! So its cost advantage is huge, even if you don’t take the route of recyclable rockets, The cost will not be much higher, this engine is the super killer feature of our Tianlong Aerospace!"

"However, Tianhuo-41 also has disadvantages, that is, its service life is low and it cannot be reused, because after reducing the weight and increasing the thrust, the heat resistance and structural firmness are reduced. To put it bluntly, this is a one-time The rocket only pursues low-cost high-thrust, enough for one use, and saves the trouble of rocket first-stage recovery and engine repair, ensuring sufficient carrying capacity, and taking a route that is extremely economical and does not need to be used repeatedly. Experts have calculated that following this route, the final rocket launch cost will not be higher than Space-X’s Falcon 9, or even lower, that is, the thinking is opposite, but the same goal by different routes!”

Three times more efficient engine production?

Li Xingyang was attracted by this information.

This is a remarkable leap-forward improvement, so I immediately asked how it was done?

"High-efficiency 3D printers, our factory has introduced high-efficiency 3D printers at a high price."

Walking to a device that looked like a small house, Fang Yujun said, "Mr. Li, this is a 3D printer worth 200 million units. The speed and efficiency of printing have increased by a full three times. It used to be about 3D printers. It takes one day to print a rocket engine, and now it only takes eight hours to print, and the precision is higher, the structural strength is higher, the number of parts is further reduced, and the manufacturing cost of the engine is only half of the previous one."

"Print three engines a day?"

Li Xingyang's eyes lit up, and he nodded again and again. This efficiency is very good. Three machines a day can almost meet the power needs of a rocket. That is to say, such a high-efficiency 3D printer can produce three hundred engines in a year. Star Force 1' rocket engine needs.

"This high-efficiency 3D printer is very good. Please buy another one from your factory. If two of them work at the same time, it can meet the engine production needs of thousands of rockets."

"Mr. Li, I have placed an order for three units, and the other two will arrive soon and be put into use. In the future, Tianlong Aerospace will be a supplier specializing in providing engines. The engine suppliers of nine aerospace companies will be supplied by Tianlong Aerospace. Done! After all, the engine is our strongest point."

nod.

Li Xingyang nodded repeatedly.

Just over four months.

Get out a brand new launch vehicle.

It is a one-time pursuit of extreme economical research and development, and does not pursue recyclability. As long as the load can be successfully sent to the sky, the mission is completed.

Finally, what is the output of the "Star Force 1" rocket? You must know that the "Two-year Thousand Arrows Project" requires at least 1,000 pieces, that is, at least 500 pieces a year on average, distributed among nine aerospace companies, and each company has to produce 56 pieces on average, that is, starting from now, each company The weekly output is at least one piece.

"Mr. Li, after our rocket assembly plant is fully put into use, it will be able to assemble two 'Star Force 1's every week. Blue Arrow Aerospace, Interstellar Glory, and Galaxy Power are several powerful companies. The output will not be lower than ours. As for the production capacity of other companies, I am not sure. Anyway, the combined weekly production capacity of our four companies is more than eight pieces, which is basically enough. The big deal is that the workers will have to work overtime. "

Fang Yujun said.

"Okay, very good, your performance has exceeded my expectations."

Li Xingyang is very happy, because rockets are relatively complicated, and mass production is not so easy, but these private aerospace companies have exploded with capabilities far beyond his imagination, and they have come up with new models in a very short time For rockets, the production efficiency of engines has been increased by three times, and the mass production of rockets is not a big problem. It is like pressing the accelerator button and creating a miracle.

If I invest more funds and resources in them, and within two years, it will be difficult for them to come up with a heavy-duty rocket with a carrying capacity of 25 tons, and they will definitely be able to do it! After all, once they fall behind, they will be eliminated. They participated in the "Two-year Thousand Arrows Project", and within half a year, they have shown such a strong potential. If they are given more difficult tasks, they will naturally be able to do it.

only……

Li Xingyang couldn't even wait two years, let the Aerospace Industry Corporation help launch the heavy rocket.

"Mr. Li, I estimate that in another month, the total number of 'Xingli No. 1' produced by our company will reach 10. Mr. Li, you have to send the payload for launch. In January next year, I can start shooting rockets here." Fang Yujun said.

"Don't be too anxious about this for the time being. I have a new project that I will hand over to you. The first allocation is 1 billion. Can you spare extra manpower and space to let this project enter the early stage of development? ?” Li Xingyang said.

new project?

Fang Yujun's eyes lit up immediately, and he patted his chest and said, "Mr. Li, leave the new project to me. If you don't have enough manpower, you can hire again. If you don't have enough space, you can rent again. These are not problems."