My Age of Investment

Three days later.

Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The observation point three kilometers away from the launch site was filled with guests and reporters who came to watch the ceremony.

Among the guests were entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs such as Jack Ma, Zhou Hongyi, and Huang Xin. They were all invited by Xia Jingxing to watch the new showmanship. If a rocket accidentally hit them, half of China's Internet might collapse. Therefore, Xia Jingxing specially arranged for them to stand far away so that they could not afford to pay for being hit by the rocket.

Journalists mainly come from some large traditional media, the three major portals, and even reporters from Penguin.com are also invited.

Among a group of Chinese reporters with black hair and eyes, there were also a dozen foreigners with blond hair and blue eyes. They were reporters from the United States and Europe.

Xia Jingxing didn't invite this group of people. He didn't know where they heard the news and came to his door.

After consulting the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center for their opinions, Xia Jingxing agreed to the request of this group of foreign journalists to attend the ceremony.

However, this group of people were foreign guests after all, so the Jiuquan base specially arranged a team of ununiformed security personnel to protect their safety.

In fact, this is not the first time that foreign journalists have visited the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. This base has been open to foreign media on a limited basis many years ago. The purpose is naturally to increase international visibility and facilitate the solicitation of international business.

At this time, the foreign reporters' attention was obviously not focused on the fierce security personnel beside them. After they arrived at the observation point, they immediately set up long guns and short cannons, aiming uniformly at the big guy three kilometers away.

Following the line of sight of this group of people, in the vast wasteland, a launcher as tall as a dozens-story building stood there quietly. In its "embrace" was a huge white launcher. Rocket.

This rocket is very different from the Long March series launched in the past. Although the fairing, that is, the arrow on the top of the rocket, is also printed with a bright red national flag, the middle and lower parts of the rocket body are printed with Fuxing Aerospace's logo respectively. Logo and the British code name of Wanhu No. 1, WH1.

At the same time, the "stout" body shape of Wanhu-1 is also very different from the Long March series of rockets, which are always known for their slender and slender bodies. It looks a bit silly and chunky.

This difference also aroused heated discussion among foreign reporters present.

"Guys, don't you think it looks a bit like a barbell with thick ends and a thin middle? And there are no boosters attached, which is very different from the Long March family series."

"Perhaps we all guessed wrong. Fuxing Aerospace did not receive technical support from China Aerospace officials during the rocket development process."

"I heard that Darren hired thousands of technical experts from Russia and Ukraine. Maybe they really developed the rocket themselves."

"The rockets are designed and assembled by themselves, but the engines must come from Russia. I have received definite information that Fuxing Aerospace has purchased three RD120 rocket engines."

The rocket was still making final preparations before launch. A group of foreign reporters took this opportunity to discuss. In and out of the conversation, they all had some doubts about the technical strength of Fuxing Aerospace. It was not that they suspected that they had received help from the official power of China's aerospace industry. It is about purchasing Russian engines and introducing foreign technical experts.

Jack Ma's hearing and English are very good. After hearing the discussion of this group of foreign reporters, he pursed his lips and said: "These foreigners are typical of looking at people through cracks in the door.

The development path of China's private aerospace enterprises is not easy. It is normal to introduce advanced foreign technology for research and then introduce new technologies to find their own characteristic development path.

The history of our country's aerospace development has generally gone through such a process. Now we are all walking in space, but who would have thought that fifty years ago we were still tightening our belts. "

As someone who has studied abroad, Huang Xin is also good at English. He just heard the "impoliteness" of these foreigners and felt a little uncomfortable. After hearing Jack Ma's complaints, he immediately stood up and echoed: " Mr. Ma is right, aerospace is an industry that brings together top human technologies, and there is no complete innovation.

There is an opportunity to use Russian and Ukrainian technology and scientific researchers, why not? Maybe it can save a few years of development time.

If the rocket launches successfully this time, Mr. Xia will be able to slap Musk hard in the face.

Yesterday, I went over the wall to read Twitter. Musk was talking nonsense there, saying that it would be impossible for Renaissance Spaceflight to launch successfully in one go. "

After hearing this, Jackma felt very strange and immediately asked: "Is this Musk from SpaceX?"

"Yes, that's him. His Nikola car can't sell Mr. Xia's Tesla, so he took aerospace as an example."

Jack Ma shook his head repeatedly, looking down on Musk, and said: "I heard that SpaASA's technical experts also received a lot of implicit support from NASA.

Even so, SpaceX succeeded in launching its fourth rocket. "

Zhou Hongyi and Jack Ma have never dealt with each other. Seeing Jack Ma's annoying way of pointing out the country, he immediately jumped out to cause trouble and said with a sarcastic face: "Now that I have succeeded, is it your turn to give a layman's comment?"

The more Jack Ma chatted with Huang Xin, the more speculative he became. He felt that this young man looked quite pleasing to the eye, and had already made up his mind to find an opportunity to invest in Meituan later. At this time, when he suddenly heard Zhou Hongyi's words, he immediately stopped With a smile on his face, he replied coldly: "I'm talking about Musk and Mr. Xia, why are you here to join in the fun?

Musk cursed Mr. Xia for the failed launch, why can’t I support Mr. Xia?

According to your opinion, Mr. Xia is no match for Musk and will the launch fail? "

Zhou Hongyi secretly cursed Jack Ma's insidiousness. In just a few words, he was pushed to the opposite side of Mr. Xia. He just couldn't stand Jack Ma's pretentiousness. How could he be loyal to Musk? Fans, he is a disciple of the Xia family, okay?

As a small shareholder of Fuxing Industrial Group, Chen Hong was also half the host. When he saw the two people fighting, he quickly stood up to smooth things over and said: "Okay, okay, please stop saying a few words. There are so many reporters here, so don't Let them see the joke.

SpaceX entered the industry a few years earlier than Fazhong Aerospace, and it is an indisputable fact that our technology is ahead of us.

However, now that Fuxing Aerospace has chosen to join this space race, SpaceX will not be allowed to dominate.

The days ahead are still long, so let’s just look down slowly. "

Chen Hong's identity is no longer what it used to be. As a shareholder of Domestic Holdings, Fuxing Industries, and Envision Financial Holdings, he is also a good friend of Xia Jingxing, so Jack Ma and Zhou Hongyi both gave him face. After glaring at each other, , they all kept their mouths shut and stopped arguing.

Later, Chen Hong asked his assistant to hand over a toy box. Then he unpacked it in front of everyone, took out the model rocket parts contained in it, and started assembling it on site.

The first-stage rocket, the second-stage rocket, and the third-stage rocket were assembled by Chen Hong, and a rocket model about half a meter long was quickly assembled.

His move immediately attracted the attention of everyone present. Even Jack Ma and Zhou Hongyi couldn't help but crane their necks to take a look at this beautifully crafted model, wondering if they could get a similar model to take home. Go play for the kids.

Noticing the expressions and movements of the people around him, Chen Hong smiled at them, "This is a demonstration product. Later, the employees of Fuxing Aerospace will give everyone the same souvenir to play with in the office or take it home to play with their children. It’s all up to you, and we won’t let you go home empty-handed.”

After speaking, Chen Hong pointed to the rocket in his hand and began to introduce and popularize various performance parameters of Wanhu-1.

"Wanhu-1 is a small liquid fuel launch vehicle. The design was independently completed by Fuxing Aerospace, and the final assembly was completed with the help of Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The rocket is 26.77 meters long and consists of three sub-stages.

The first sub-stage, which is the bottom stage of the rocket, has a diameter of 3.35 meters, a thrust of 84.7 tons, and is equipped with an RD120 liquid oxygen kerosene engine;

The second stage has a diameter of 2.25 meters and a thrust of 18.37 tons;

The third sub-stage has a diameter of 2.25 meters and a thrust of 0.68 tons.

The rocket has a take-off mass of 62 tons, a take-off thrust-to-weight ratio of 1.37, a low-Earth orbit carrying capacity of 1 ton, and a maximum carrying capacity of 0.75 tons in a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit. "

After the introduction, Chen Hong found that the people around him looked confused, as if they didn't understand?

He couldn't help but smile. When he arrived at Jiuquan two days ago, his reaction when he heard Xia Jingxing reported these parameters was no better than this group of people.

However, this did not affect him in the slightest from pretending to be cool in front of this group of aerospace laymen like himself.

Chen Hong cleared his throat and said: "These technical parameters are confusing to people, and they don't understand what they are. Let me give you two more examples so that everyone can refer to them after listening to them.

Everyone must have heard of the Eagle 1 rocket launched by Musk, right? It’s the rocket that failed three consecutive launches.

Its rocket body has a diameter of 1.7 meters, a height of 21.3 meters, a take-off mass of 38.55 tons, a low-Earth orbit carrying capacity of 0.67 tons, and a sun-synchronous orbit carrying capacity of 0.43 tons.

Various performance indicators of the Wanhu-1 launch vehicle exceed that of the Eagle-1 by 30 to 40%.

The SpaceX team has a total of 500 people. It took them six years to finally succeed in the fourth launch in September 2008, sending a 165 kilogram virtual payload into low-Earth orbit.

In July last year, Eagle 1 carried out its fifth and final launch, and it was also the first real commercial launch, successfully placing a Malaysian satellite into low-Earth orbit.

In June and December this year, the Eagle-9 rocket conducted two low-Earth orbit launches, both of which were a complete success.

Yingjiu is a big guy, temporarily ahead of Wanhu No.1. "

While Chen Hong was doing rocket science popularization for many invited guests, Xia Jingxing was also introducing products to his grandfather and grandma at another observation point.

"Dongfanghong-1 was launched into the sky by the Long March-1 carrier rocket 40 years ago. The weight of this satellite is only 356 kilograms, while our Wanhu-1 can launch a satellite weighing 2,000 kilograms into the sky."

Xia Jingxing talked and gestured, and finally made the two old people understand the "advancedness" of Wanhu No. 1.

Looking at the tall rocket standing a few kilometers away, Xia Shihe nodded, and finally showed a satisfied smile. Sun Tzu's book was not in vain. Although the neutron bomb was not built, he at least built such a big rocket.

"Can your rocket send astronauts to heaven?"

The old man's words stunned Xia Jingxing. After a while, he shook his head and said, "In a few years, we will build medium and large launch vehicles that are forty to fifty meters, seventy to eighty meters or even hundreds of meters high." , this is just a small rocket, specially used for "short-distance transportation".

Moreover, the rocket launched this time is only a test product for technical verification. "

"Then your rocket isn't that powerful. It's only at the technical level of the 1970s and 1980s! Compared with the United States, I'm afraid the gap is even bigger."

The old man deliberately made a look of disgust, making Xia Yuan and Zhang Yuqiong beside him laugh, and the uncle's family also laughed.

"What are you laughing at? Am I wrong? The country was able to send astronauts to space seven years ago. But you can't do this, so it must be because of technological backwardness.

As for Americans, they could have landed on the moon decades ago. "

Xia Yuan smiled and said: "Dad, everything must be done step by step. Besides, rocket research and development is a rigorous work, and you can't rush it."

"I just encourage him."

After that, the old man patted Xia Jingxing on the shoulder and said solemnly: "Well done! But we must keep up our efforts and strive to contribute more to the country, and at the same time, we must surpass the United States!"

"Old man, you don't understand anything, so don't talk too much here." Grandma Xia Jingxing was very protective of her grandson. She was looking at her husband with a displeased look on her face, as if she would have his ears ripped off if you kept talking. Posture.

"Why don't I understand? When Dongfanghong No. 1 took off, the broadcast in the village announced it countless times. I still remember the scene of countless people cheering in the fields.

In the blink of an eye, forty years have passed, and the country is now developing better and better. "

After sighing for a moment, the old man pointed to the rocket in the distance again and asked, "How long has it taken to light the fire? My feet are numb even when I stand."

Xia Jingxing lowered his head and glanced at his watch and said, "Come on, the fuel will be refilled soon."

"Why didn't you refuel earlier? It means that your preparations are still not in place and there is room for improvement."

Xia Jingxing couldn't laugh or cry, so he had to patiently explain to the old man that adding low-temperature fuel too early would damage the instruments in the rocket. A small oversight would cause the rocket to fail. Adding fuel is also very particular. It must be done every second, too. Neither too early nor too late will do.

This rocket launch was escorted by experienced experts from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. If Fuxing Aerospace wants to build its own rocket launch base in the future, it will have to form a relevant ground support team and accumulate launch experience from scratch. , this experience is not easy to accumulate, and the cost is very high.

After a while, Xia Jingxing received a notification that the rocket had entered the final countdown to take off.

When he heard that the rocket would be officially ignited in five minutes, Xia Jingxing, who was originally very calm, began to look nervous.

Can it be successful the first time?

To be honest, he didn't feel very confident, but he still pretended to be calm.

He suddenly regretted inviting so many relatives and friends to watch the ceremony. What if it failed?

As soon as this thought came into his mind, Xia Jingxing quickly killed it. He couldn't curse himself, he had to think of something better!

He stared at the rocket a few kilometers away, thinking to himself, he must fight for his reputation. The old boy Musk is waiting to see the joke about reviving the aerospace industry. Maybe he has even edited the Twitter content. .

Seeing his son's nervousness, Xia Yuan came over and explained: "Remember, this launch is just the beginning. No matter what the result is, Fuxing Aerospace will continue to move forward."

Xia Jingxing understood his father's subtext, which was to let him be more open-minded and not take the results of this launch too seriously.

It doesn't matter even if the rocket launch fails. Fuxing Aerospace will not give up its progress just because of a small failure. There are still plenty of opportunities ahead.

If this launch is successful, it won't mean much, because it only represents the beginning. There will be more difficult difficulties such as multiple satellites in one rocket, manned spaceflight, medium and large rockets, etc. that need to be overcome one by one, and they are also faced with Possibility of failure.

Aerospace is such a never-ending industry. There is no peak, only one mountain higher than the other.

After being enlightened by his father, Xia Jingxing instantly relaxed a lot and responded with a smile: "Yes, you must have a big heart to play this."

"You still have to have great perseverance!"

Just as Xia Shihe was proud of his grandson, Xia Yuan was also very pleased with his son's achievements.

Regardless of whether this rocket launch is successful or not, it is already a great achievement to be the first to transport a private rocket into the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

In the command and control hall a few kilometers away, a group of base staff wearing white coats and anti-static uniforms who looked like doctors were sitting at their workstations with serious expressions, waiting for instructions from Commander Zero.

"10, 9, 83, 2, 1, fire up!"

After receiving the instruction, the rocket controller in the room immediately pressed the ignition button.

At the outdoor launch site, with a huge roar, thick smoke instantly rose around the launcher, and the Wanhu-1 carrier rocket began to lift off from the ground, dragging its fiery and dazzling tail flame.

Everyone stared intently at the giant arrow that shot straight into the sky and flew higher and higher.

This is the first private rocket launched by China, which represents that China's commercial aerospace is entering a new era.

Can this little rocket, which carries the hopes of countless people, truly soar into the sky?