darknovel #287 - Reusable rocket technology!
#287 - Reusable rocket technology!
As for the effects of opening up private aerospace restrictions?
The effect is that in the time that followed, the number and frequency of satellites launched by Huaxia directly caught up with the launch frequency of the Beautiful Country.
It's just a pity that Huaxia still has a slightly smaller number of satellites.
After all, before Huaxia started to exert its strength, the Beautiful Country had launched more than 1,400 satellites, while Huaxia had only launched more than 180. Therefore, in the previous life, it was not easy for Huaxia to catch up with the Beautiful Country in terms of the number of satellites.
Now, Gao Nian has come here to investigate the situation here and see if they can cooperate to develop Huaxia's own reusable rocket technology.
After all, if reusable rocket technology does not achieve a breakthrough, Geek Technology Company will not be able to build a star network. In his previous life, Musk was able to play the Starlink project and launch more than 6,800 Starlink satellites, with a planned total of 42,000 satellites.
This is because the holder of the Starlink project is Space Exploration Company. Naturally, the satellites launched by itself do not cost money, only the cost price.
The last factor is that they have mastered the reusable rocket technology. A first-stage rocket can be reused 10 to 20 times, and the average cost is quite low.
It can be said that they were able to launch 6,849 Starlink satellites in just a few years because the reusable rocket technology is too great.
Therefore, if Geek Technology Company wants to establish a star network, it must overcome reusable rocket technology.
Geek Technology Company must not only achieve the reusable technology of the first-stage rocket, but also achieve the reusable technology of the second-stage rocket.
After all, the structure of a rocket has multiple stages, and the number of stages required varies depending on the height of the launch target.
Taking the low Earth orbit 200 kilometers to 2,000 kilometers above the ground as an example, the number of rocket stages required to launch a satellite into low Earth orbit is generally two or three stages.
For example, the Falcon 9 rocket launched by Space Exploration Company is a two-stage rocket, and their Falcon 9 rocket range covers the entire low Earth orbit.
However, it is a pity that their Falcon 9 rocket can only recover the first-stage rocket, that is, the lower half of the two-stage rocket can be recovered, and the upper half still has to be destroyed as before.
If the upper part of the rocket can also be recycled and reused, the cost of launching a rocket once may be reduced to 2 million US dollars.
In that case, the history of aerospace will be turned over again, which is worth remembering in the global history of aerospace.
Because according to the already public news, before the birth of reusable rocket technology, the cost of launching a rocket once was 240 million US dollars.
After the birth of the Falcon 9 rocket of Space Exploration Company, their quotation was directly reduced to more than 30 million US dollars, only 24% of the former.
Now, if both stages of the rocket can be recycled and reused, and can be reused 10 to 20 times, how can the average cost of launching once not be reduced to about 2 million US dollars?
Of course, it is not easy to achieve the reusable technology of two-stage rockets.
After all, in 2024 in his previous life, the two-stage reusable rocket "Starship" of Space Exploration Company could only barely achieve recyclability, and there was still a certain distance from the complete maturity of the technology.
Now, it is not so easy for Geek Technology Company to realize the recyclability of two-stage rockets.
Unless Gao Nian takes action, it would be laughable to achieve it within 5 years.
"Mr. Gao Nian, what do you think of our Jiuquan?"
The big shot opposite Gao Nian asked with a smile.
He naturally knew the purpose of Gao Nian's visit this time, and also knew that although Geek Technology Company's star network plan required the base responsible for launching satellites to launch them only at cost price according to Geek Technology Company's requirements.
But what time is it now?
Now is the time when business is at its worst!
Space Exploration Company has snatched away all the global satellite launch orders with its ultra-low prices, leaving many workers with nothing to do.
Therefore, even if satellites are launched at cost price and the profit is meager, they must compete for Geek Technology Company's satellite launch orders.
After all, Huaxia has five major satellite launch bases, and their Jiuquan is only one of them.
If they do not grab Geek Technology Company's star network satellite launch order, then the workers will continue to have nothing to do.
And the higher-ups will naturally not let the workers take wages for nothing. By then, the list of 'streamlined employees' and even the closure of some departments will be inevitable.
Therefore, they must grab Geek Technology Company's star network satellite launch order, at least to keep the workers busy, and they cannot continue like this.
"What do I think? To be honest, I'm a little disappointed."
Gao Nian said something that made the big shot opposite him change his face drastically.
However, Geek Technology Company is still the master who gives the orders, so the big shot suppressed the dissatisfaction in his heart and asked:
Because what Gao Nian said is indeed the truth.
The system has the advantages of the system, but it also has to admit that there are shortcomings. The shortcoming is that it does not dare to innovate vigorously.
The so-called 'doing nothing is better than doing something wrong'. If you want to continue to sit firmly in your position, you naturally cannot engage in high-risk innovation. So who can make the decision to develop reusable rocket technology?
After all, the price of rockets is too expensive. A rocket on the Beautiful Country side is quoted at 240 million US dollars. Although it is impossible for Huaxia to be so expensive, it is not cheap either.
Once the reusable rocket technology development fails, who can bear this responsibility? Do you still want your position?
Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that the progress of Huaxia's reusable rocket technology is blank.
"Are you interested in jointly developing reusable rocket technology with our Geek Technology Company?"
Gao Nian said something that made the face of the big shot opposite him change from cloudy to sunny.
"Your Geek Technology Company is willing to invest in the development of reusable rocket technology?"
"That's right."
Gao Nian nodded lightly, and then said:
"Although I haven't gone to the other four satellite launch bases to check, but you are all like this, the other four satellite launch bases must be the same.
Under such circumstances, in order to launch star network satellites at a low cost, we can only establish a project to develop reusable rocket technology.
After all, it costs you more than 70 million US dollars to launch a rocket once. Although it is much cheaper than the 240 million US dollars in the Beautiful Country, we still have no way to accept it.
After all, the quotation of the Falcon 9 rocket of Space Exploration Company is only 60 million US dollars, and your quotation is more than 10 million US dollars more expensive than theirs."