The military-industrial scientific research system of the academic master

Kuaizhou-1 was enveloped in flames and thick smoke, slowly accelerating and climbing under the eyes of more than a dozen cameras and hundreds of eyes at the launch site, and under the expectant eyes of global television audiences.

Soon, there was only a white trail left in the air behind him.

The main function of the core stage is to raise the rocket to sufficient height and speed as quickly as possible, so the wake of this section does not show the zigzag characteristics produced when extra energy is consumed.

Compared with the busy and lively atmosphere in the command center after a conventional rocket launch, the on-site environment at this time is undoubtedly much quieter——

In fact, since the successful launch of Shenzhou 5 in 2003 and the manned spaceflight project entering its second phase, China has always had the need to build a new space launch site in low-latitude coastal areas.

On the one hand, it is to improve the carrying capacity of the rocket with the help of the rotation of the earth. On the other hand, it can also release the strict restrictions on the diameter of the rocket in railway transportation, so as to facilitate the launch of higher-level rockets in the future.

However, plans are plans.

At least as of 2006, only the suborbital Vega series of sounding rockets had been launched in Qiong Province, so there was no infrastructure specifically designed to serve space launch missions.

In addition, the space debris No. 40396, the mission target of the space fishing ship, is in an orbit at a very strange angle, resulting in several telemetry stations built by China in the past unable to function well.

Therefore, for a long period of time after launch, the flight status can only be judged through the sensors installed on the rocket itself.

Fortunately, this is the normal working environment of ballistic missiles, so from the brigade commander Yang Guang to the ordinary non-commissioned officers responsible for liaison tasks, the commanders and fighters of the Second Artillery expressed their emotional stability.

But for Zhou Pingjian, who was accustomed to regular space launch missions, the scene of complete silence after the rocket launch seemed too depressing.

Even a little scary——

In the past, this situation usually only occurred after the launch failed.

After suffering from fidgeting for about half a minute, he couldn't help it anymore and said something out of nowhere:

"This rocket modified from a ballistic missile is really convenient to launch..."

Chang Haonan is currently staring at the data on the laptop screen in front of him, but because the rocket has not yet flown into the first telemetry area and the structural limitations of the solid rocket itself, there is nothing particularly interesting to see.

So after hearing someone break the silence, I turned around without any nostalgia.

However, Zhao Fuyuan from the Ninth Academy of Aerospace Science and Industry next to him reacted faster:

"Well... the usage environment of our products is still somewhat different from that of ordinary rockets. From the beginning of the design, we considered operating in extreme environments... uh... use, so it will be convenient to carry out such small-load, low-orbit launch missions. Much more.”

Although Zhou Pingjian is the chief designer of the manned spaceflight project, he has a strong say in the entire aerospace system.

Moreover, the launch missions he is responsible for include not only the Shenzhou spacecraft and the Tiangong Space Station. For example, the Qingluan 2 constellation launched last year was also included in the list because it was planned to undertake the relay communication mission for China's first space walk. Among the manned space projects.

As the director of the newly established launch vehicle research center, Zhao Fuyuan naturally wanted to take this opportunity to quickly market his current flagship and only available model.

However, he thought Lao Zhou was expressing praise just now.

In fact, the other party is just relieving his emotions...

He didn't even realize what Zhao Fuyuan had just said.

For a moment, the atmosphere at the launch site couldn't help but feel a little awkward.

Fortunately, at this time, the first voice finally came from the radio communicator:

"Yangtze River 3, capture the target!"

Yangtze River, which is the code name of the Yuanwang survey ship during the launch mission.

For this launch mission with special needs, the National Space Administration specially mobilized up to three maritime measurement ships to ensure the measurement and control needs of the three most critical nodes during the rocket launch process.

Yuanwang 3 is the first ship located in the northeastern part of Qiong Province.

As the voice fell, several windows that were originally dark on the computer screen also appeared with pictures or data at the same time.

Chang Haonan glanced briefly.

The sight is green.

Almost at the same time, the second password sounded again:

"Yangtze River 3, the radar data is normal and the telemetry signal is normal!"

After hearing these words, the first burst of applause since the launch finally sounded over this slightly crude temporary launch site.

The extremely oppressive air was suddenly broken, and Zhou Pingjian, who was almost sweating profusely just now, also relaxed obviously.

Obviously, he is still more accustomed to this situation.

After slapping his hands a few times, Lao Zhou seemed to suddenly remember something and turned to look at Zhao Fuyuan not far behind him:

"By the way, Lao Zhao, what did you just say to me?"

"..."

The originally serious and lively atmosphere almost became humorous because of this sentence.

Zhao Fuyuan shook his head helplessly, but he had no intention of repeating it again——

When he couldn't see anything just now, he really didn't feel much in his heart.

But now he saw the rocket he developed flying in the sky in the optical observation results transmitted back from Yuanwang-3, which made him feel a little excited and nervous for no reason.

After all, as a missile designer, I have never had such an opportunity in the past.

About half a minute later, the dazzling light flashing at the tail of the rocket gradually weakened, and then completely extinguished within a few seconds.

However, this made the imaging effect of the optical lens clearer.

"Hmm--"

A burst of exclamations suddenly sounded around the monitor.

The slender and snow-white body of the missile was wrapped in a layer of fine airflow, just like a girl's body wrapped in a layer of translucent gauze.

Mysterious and seductive.

Zhao Fuyuan half bent over, almost wanting to put his face into the screen:

"It's so beautiful..."

And the missile brigade commander Zhou Guang actually saw the things he launched for the first time:

"It's really spectacular..."

Although the military training made him sit upright, his eyes were also staring at the optical window.

Chang Haonan was counting down silently in his mind:

“5…4…3…”

The first two stages of Kuaizhou-1 did not undergo any hardware changes, but in the energy management system designed by Chang Haonan, an additional glide stage was added after each stage engine was shut down to reduce unnecessary maneuvers in the power stage and ensure the highest possible orbital accuracy.

His voice was not loud, but the people closest to him could still hear it vaguely.

Just as Zhao Fuyuan and Zhou Pingjian cast their eyes towards Chang Haonan with some curiosity…

“Separation of the first and second stages!”

Chang Haonan’s voice almost overlapped with the voice on the radio.

It was obvious that he was familiar with the whole process.

And he had the same control over time as a stopwatch.

Zhou Pingjian’s eyes widened slightly, but he still did not speak at this most critical moment.

At the same time, in the picture captured by the No. 1 rocket-borne camera, the locking device at the connection between the first and second stages was released, and the 12 sets of compression springs surrounding the rocket body were activated at the same time, pushing the inner and outer sleeves of the separation push rod away from each other.

Under the effect of the law of conservation of momentum, the core first stage rocket that had completed its mission lost speed and slowly began to fall in the image.

Almost at the same time, high-temperature gas gushed out from the tail of the rocket again, and the dazzling halo formed quickly enveloped the entire rocket body, causing the optical observation equipment to lose a lot of details again.

A few seconds later, the rocket left the measurement and control range of Yuanwang-3.

The previous few image windows turned dark again.

However, this time the middle section of the signal did not last too long.

Yuanwang-5, located in the central Pacific, quickly recaptured the target.

When the low-magnification optical window in the display lit up again, the picture that appeared in it shocked everyone -

Under the dark sky, a white airflow with a trilobite outline came from far to near, like a god tearing the void, flying at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Yangtze-5, radar data is normal, telemetry signal is normal!"

The report from Yuanwang-5 sounded.

But everyone had forgotten to applaud.

This scene is not unfamiliar to professionals in spacecraft design.

It's just a jellyfish cloud, even the most basic textbooks will mention it.

But to create such a spectacular effect, it needs to meet quite a lot of demanding conditions.

Due to the limitation of the ballistic path, China's usual rocket and missile launches rarely meet the requirements.

Therefore, even many professionals present observed this scene in its entirety for the first time.

"Will this picture... be broadcast?"

After a long while, Zhou Pingjian broke the silence reluctantly.

"Yes."

Chang Haonan nodded:

"But based on the current altitude of the rocket, there should be many people who don't need to watch it through TV... just look up and they can see it."

"Huh?"

Zhao Fuyuan was stunned at first, then turned his head to look at the map displayed on another screen next to him -

The trajectory of Kuaizhou-1 just passed over the waters near Guam...