Technological Hegemony

Cape Canaveral Space Center.

Crackling~

The camera shot wildly for a while, and Musk, facing the camera, has long been used to this kind of scene. Since he was a teenager, he has been a well-known genius in North America. Journalists can ask themselves questions.

"Mr. Musk, what do you think of Star Technology's successful launch of a heavy-duty launch vehicle, sending the first module of the synchronous orbital space station into the predetermined orbit? And successfully completing the recovery of the rocket's primary and secondary thrusters?" the reporter asked.

Musk smiled, "Congratulations to them, what happened in Huaxia Jiuquan today proved two things, first, Star Technology's recyclable launch vehicle technology is on par with ours, and second, they have a great chance to complete The envisioned ultra-large space station in synchronous orbit, as long as the capital chain is not broken."

The reporters on the scene were in an uproar after hearing Musk's words. Just as Luo Jia valued Musk, Musk also gave Star Technology a very high evaluation. This is probably the sympathy between geniuses.

"Mr. Musk, I'm a reporter from Fox News. Don't you worry about the barbarians from China?" Another reporter asked.

Musk couldn't help laughing, "It's not so much that I'm worried, it's better that I feel very happy now."

"Did you know that since the end of the Cold War, we have barely made any major advances in space technology, simply because we lost our adversaries."

"Now that China has replaced the former Soviet Union, it is on the runway of the space race, and NASA, a huge machine, has been sleeping for too long, and it is time to start working again."

"I look forward to a wonderful contest, and I hope that China will not die suddenly in the competition like the Soviet Union. If that happens, I will be very disappointed."

There was a sudden realization on the faces of the reporters. Musk was right. The current NASA is actually a behemoth in hibernation. Up to now, North America’s annual military expenditure is 600 billion U.S. dollars, and NASA’s budget is only 100 billion U.S. dollars. to 20 billion.

As a lifelong dream of colonizing Mars, Musk is happy to see the competition between North America and China, because this is a typical country-based dispute. Even if North America goes all out, it will never admit defeat. If it is increased to 600 billion US dollars, how many scientific research results will be produced every year? Maybe in a few years, humans will really be able to colonize Mars.

At the height of U.S.-Soviet rivalry,

9.5% of the total annual budget of North American authorities is allocated to NASA! The money spent by NASA every year is almost equal to the military expenditure of North America!

The ultimate goal of scientific research is not to create wealth, but scientific research itself is doomed to consume huge amounts of wealth. It is precisely because during the Cold War that North American authorities crazily poured money into the space industry that we have seen the Apollo program that will forever be recorded in history. , Challenger Program, etc., without money, there will be no stars and oceans, the reality is always so cruel.

Wanting to understand this level, the reporters blushed with excitement. Could it be that another space race is coming soon?

To this day, the fierce competition between the United States and the Soviet Union for space supremacy is still vividly remembered. How tragic was it?

Although there are also reasons for the drop in international oil prices and the war in Afghanistan, a country as powerful as the Soviet Union was so poor that in the end, there was no underwear left. The huge empire fell apart overnight. A large part of the reason was that it was dragged down by the space race. Broken.

Assuming that North America and China start a battle for space supremacy, NASA, a sleeping ancient war machine, will surely be revived on the spot. In past competitions, top scientific research institutions including Jet Propulsion and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory were all defeated by the stars. At the foot of science and technology, perhaps restarting NASA is the key to resisting the barbaric invasion of China.

"You don't need to wait too long." Musk said very excitedly: "The reason why Star Technology was able to pass all the way is because they never encountered us in the strongest state, so they can maintain a record of complete victory."

"And now, the real competition has arrived. After several years of fiasco, the elites in the western world have learned from it. Not only NASA has entered the start-up process, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, CERN, etc. have also entered the expansion period. Acceleration period, getting more and more financial support."

"In addition to this, there are research institutions affiliated to major companies, such as Google and Apple. In recent years, they have suffered a lot from Xingchen Technology. They have been holding back their energy and trying to fight back. It will become a force to encircle and suppress Xingchen Technology."

"In short, please don't be confused by the appearance in front of you. I suggest that you pay attention to an index, the scientific research investment index. When will NASA's annual research and development funds be no longer just 20 billion US dollars, but 200 billion US dollars? , one trillion dollars! It is the symbol of the full power of the ancient war machine!"

The reporters applauded one after another. Scientific research investment is an absolute indicator. Before that, NASA’s annual budget was only 20 billion U.S. dollars. What does that mean?

It shows that the powerful war machine has not been activated at all. North America and the entire West are relying on the money they have accumulated in the past to fight against Xingchen Technology.

"If World War II was won and the war machine that dragged down the former Soviet Union was activated again, what would be the consequences?" A reporter asked with longing.

Musk shrugged, "I don't know, but it should be very exciting, just like this time, a few hours ago, Star Technology launched their first recyclable heavy-lift rocket in Jiuquan, China. Guess, we What will you do?"

"Of course it is to give a strong counterattack! It is rumored that as soon as Xingchen Technology starts to build a synchronous orbit space station, we will start the Starlink project!"

"Xingchen Technology launches a rocket, and we will definitely launch it too!"

The reporters shouted loudly, Musk nodded with a smile, raised two fingers facing the camera, and said in a joking voice: "To be precise, every time Star Technology launches a rocket, we Shoot two."

"This is the space race! The struggle for space supremacy, we will not give up an inch!"

...

Boom~

The battle for space supremacy between China and North America caused an uproar all over the world. Everyone was shocked by North America's resolute attitude. Just six hours after Star Technology's heavy-duty transport rocket took off, Kanavi, Florida, North America The Lal Point Space Base has carried out two consecutive launches.

The protagonist of the launch is SpaceX's Super Falcon rocket, which has a single load of 220 tons and carries a total of 128 Starlink communication satellites. These satellites are arranged at a distance of 150 kilometers from the ground. of low-Earth orbit.

According to the current available information, each Starlink satellite is equipped with four star sensors, eight momentum wheels and eight Hall-type electric thrusters, with a self-weight of more than two tons, using solar energy as energy, and an operating life of thirty-five years. In 2009, it carried all satellite communication and data frequency bands in the world.

To put it simply, this thing is 6G technology placed in low-earth orbit. Just the first phase of the plan requires more than 12,000 satellites to form a data network covering the world. Through a dedicated modem, it can Realize satellite Internet access and calls.

After this Skynet is established, it will be the second generation of Starlink immediately, and then launch 48,000 second-generation satellites that are heavier, cover more orbits, and have higher data bandwidth. By then, the number of satellites in the sky will reach crazy The total number of 60,000 satellites, including spare satellites, is no less than 64,000, and these satellites will form a real broadband star network.

As we all know, telecommunications services are a very profitable business. China Mobile Group alone has an annual revenue of more than 800 billion yuan. The ambition of building Starlink in North America is to replace telecommunications service providers in various countries and integrate China Mobile, China Unicom, Vodafone, etc. Enterprises, kill them all.

If this step can be achieved, the Starlink Group will become a super giant with an annual revenue of trillions of dollars in the future. While making money, it will also control the hegemony of global telecommunications.

In contrast, Xingchen Technology is a bit confusing. The existence of a space station in synchronous orbit obviously has incomparable advantages in scientific research, such as space breeding, space mining, deep space telescopes and a series of scientific research. They can all be deployed on the space station, but it seems that there is no profit prospect and it is difficult to make money.

All in all, the unstoppable history came on September 14th, the sixth year since Star Technology was founded.

Both China and North America have made their own choices. North America restarted NASA, an ancient war weapon, and launched the Starlink project, while Star Technology, a rising star in China's scientific research community, is making every effort to attack the synchronous orbit space station.

On September 19th, just five days after the first launch, the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center delivered another good news. The second basic module of the Xingchen space station was successfully launched!

Then, the time came to September 21st, at the Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida, the Super Falcon launched the second double launch, sending 128 communication satellites into low-Earth orbit again, although the Super Falcon The Falcon is inferior to Star Technology's heavy-duty transport rocket in terms of launch load capacity, but it seems that Musk intends to rely on numbers to make up for it.

It is rumored that NASA is testing a new generation of liquid oxygen methane engine. If the project is successful, the second generation of Super Falcon will equal or even surpass the star heavy-lift rocket in terms of thrust.

As for Russia, their engines are still the most powerful, but it seems that they have encountered financial difficulties and are seeking international cooperation, mainly with India. After all, the rich Indians have money, and Russia has been cheating India for many years. According to traditional experience, the two sides hit it off immediately, with India providing money and Russia providing technology to participate in a new round of space race.

Finally, Europe, of course they are not willing to give up space hegemony, but it is a pity that Europe's economy is now in recession, and the countries are in a state of disunity. At the end of the negotiation, the ones who are really willing to pay the European Aerospace Agency are the two heroes of the European Union, Germany and France, and the rest For example, Italy, which has been lagging behind for thousands of years, can't be counted on at all.

All in all, Russia and Europe managed to get on the poker table at the last moment and assembled a table of mahjong, but everyone knows that the protagonists of this battle for space supremacy are actually China and the United States, and it can only be China and the United States.

On October 1st, the third year since the founding of Xingchen Technology, the Jiuquan base carried out the third launch in just half a month, and Luo Jia promised in his column that as the production capacity of Xingchen Industrial Group climbs, the future will be Increase the launch frequency to two or even three launches per week, and strive to complete the largest space station project in human history within two years.

Later that day, Cape Canaveral in North America launched another double launch, sending 128 communication satellites into space for the third time, making the Starlink project deploy multiple satellites in just half a month. Up to 380 communication satellites! More than the total number of satellites launched by China last year!

NASA's Dallas factory, Salt Lake City factory, Florida factory, and Massachusetts factory, the four dusty aerospace industry manufacturing bases, have rarely started 24-hour assembly line operations.

It seems that the ancient war beast is really slowly waking up.