Chapter 102 Light Armor

The Jiuquan Satellite Center is located in the northeast of JQ City. The weather is very cold, but the sun rises very early. When they were waiting in the launch hall at five o'clock, it was already dawn.

“Catching up with SpaceX in terms of cost, from what I understand, is not going to be easy.

Compared with other commercial airlines that launch rockets, SpaceX's biggest advantage is cost.

Can we really eliminate SpaceX's biggest advantage in terms of cost in just one year?" Tim blew on his hands to make them less cold.

He did a lot of homework before coming here. At the same time, with the popularity of Tesla in recent years, other companies under Musk have also become well-known in China.

Because SpaceX is linked to space, and their Starlink project was officially launched in 19, in just three years from 19 to 21, under the influence of the virus epidemic, they have launched nearly two thousand satellites.

Various media have analyzed SpaceX's advantages very clearly. After the powerful flying brick model was successfully implemented, their costs were reduced to an extremely low level, much lower than other commercial airlines.

Chen Yuanguang said firmly: "One year is enough. The Falcon 9 we are familiar with now has actually gone through three generations.

From the initial Falcon 1.0 1.2 to the current Falcon 1.2 , even the Falcon has gone through three versions.

Because SpaceX is not listed and has no specific data released to the public, the contract they previously signed with NASA was for $6000 million per launch. SpaceX executives announced that the cost of each SpaceX launch is $2800 million.

We can reduce the cost of each launch to less than $2800 million, while maintaining a payload capacity no less than that of the Falcon .

China's biggest advantage lies in its complete industrial chain. We try to use products from the domestic supply chain as much as possible, which can help us lower costs.

At present, we will develop engines, fairings, control systems, thrusters, and core engines ourselves or cooperate with domestic suppliers.

There will be preliminary results next year, and our average launch cost per kilogram will be comparable to that of Falcon 9.”

Chen Yuanguang went on to say: "Our biggest advantage is that we don't have to explore the technical route ourselves, we have a clear direction, and at the same time, in recent years, both domestically and abroad, people have made enough attempts on reusable rockets.

We can use existing intelligence to move forward in a clear direction, which can save a lot of time and opportunity costs.

Coupled with Guangjia Aerospace's financial advantages in China, our financial size is hundreds of times that of other domestic commercial airlines. We can quickly come up with a relatively mature result.

Of course, next year's version will only be a preliminary version. What specific results can be achieved will depend on the number of launches next year.

Like the Falcon 1.2, their version took more than thirty launches before it matured.

All of our launches in the first quarter of next year will be held in Jiuquan, and starting from the second quarter, our launches will be transferred to Yantai.

Starting from the second quarter, Pioneer 2, a larger heavy-duty rocket comparable to Falcon 9, will be launched in Yantai.

Of course, this is based on the premise that everything goes well." Chen Yuanguang continued.

These are not business secrets and can be easily found.

Tim was very curious after listening to this, because in his traditional concept, there are only rocket launch bases in places like Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia, or the Wenchang launch base in Hainan.

It was the first time he heard that Yantai, Shandong Province could launch Mars.

He asked curiously, "Is there a rocket launch base in Yantai?"

Chen Yuanguang nodded: "Yes, the Eastern Aviation Port project that was just started recently is an offshore launch base.

Like Wenchang, although it is in Hainan, their launch is still from land.

Yantai is launched by sailing out and launching from the ship.

The final recovery point will also be at sea. Compared with land launches, the failure rate of recovery from sea launches is lower. If the recovery prediction is accurate enough, the recovery difficulty of sea launches will also be lower. "

After Chen Yuanguang started working in light armor aerospace, his professional level increased dramatically.

Before this, he only knew that his alma mater, Jiangcheng University, had launched a remote sensing satellite called Luojia-1.

"In Yantai, the first sea launch in China was carried out here, and the Long March 11 was launched at that time.

Later, they invested more than 20 billion yuan to build the Vostok Port offshore launch base.

We cooperated with YT City at the beginning of this year. We invested half and YT City invested the other half, and together we built an offshore launch ship named "Guang Jia".

This ship will also be completed and put into use in the second quarter of next year. This year is just a test, and next year will be a year of intensive launches for Light Armor Aerospace.

We will then invite you, Tim, to come and see our larger-yield sea launch.”

Yantai has a very sensitive nose. After learning that Guangjia Aerospace was established and received US$20 billion in financing, their investment promotion specialists contacted Guangjia Aerospace intensively.

Crazy promotion of their Sea Launch program.

Tim's eyes lit up when he heard this, because most men are fascinated by space. After coming to Jiuquan, he began to think that they should also launch a satellite.

This thought occupied his mind madly.

Hearing that entrepreneurs who are much younger than you are developing reusable rockets and buying sea launch ships is really exciting.

"Light God, can I ask the price of the 'Light Armor' out of curiosity?" Tim asked weakly.

Chen Yuanguang thought for a moment and said, "About 7 million. We paid half of it, so the total is less than million."

Chen Yuanguang then said helplessly: "So the cost of doing aviation is too high.

It's just a few hundred million. And the annual maintenance cost of an offshore launch platform like this is tens of millions, and it will only get more expensive over time.

Before we decided to cooperate with Yantai, we asked around internationally and found out that there was a floating spaceport in Daye parked at their Slavyanka Shipyard but no one was using it.

Big Goose asked us if we wanted to buy it and highly recommended it, saying that if we were willing to buy it, they could sell it to us for free and we would just have to leave the subsequent maintenance to them.

Do you know how much the repairs will cost?"

This kind of information can only be heard when chatting with big guys. It is a piece of rare knowledge among rare facts, Tim thought. He showed a curious look and asked, "How much is it?"

Chen Yuanguang said calmly: "500 billion rubles, close to 7 million US dollars, and the subsequent annual maintenance cost is 3000 million US dollars.

What’s more, they want to transfer it to us and remove all the sensitive equipment on it. Aren’t they taking us for fools?

The Light Armor we built cost 7 million RMB, and Yantai paid for half of it for us."

Chen Yuanguang thought that Damao was crazy about making money. Tim opened his mouth wide, thinking, is this the world of the rich? It's so expensive.

"This project was launched during the honeymoon period between Big Goose, American and Europe after the end of the Cold War. The first major shareholder was Boeing, and the second largest shareholder was Big Goose's Energy Group.

To be honest, there are still a lot of valuable things in it. When it was first developed, it violated America's export arms control law, and Boeing was fined 100 million.

Later, because of the breakdown of the relationship, especially this year, as you know, the cooperation broke down, no one was willing to pay for it, and then the project was shelved, and they came to us to find a buyer. "

(This refers to the Sea Launch project between America and Europe. Boeing was initially in charge of this project, but it was no longer viable due to geopolitical reasons. Its president left and joined SpaceX as CEO.)

Tim listened with great interest, "I don't quite understand why it has to be launched from the sea?
Isn't land launch good enough? What's the difference?"

Chen Yuanguang said: "If your transmission frequency is very low and there are no special requirements, then there is really no difference.

But for reusable rockets, firstly, they land at sea after recovery, and the natural buffer zone can make their recovery rate higher. Secondly, we want to do asteroid mining, and to do this, you have to launch spacecraft to the predetermined orbit at a high frequency.

Launching from sea can save as much fuel as possible to allow the rocket to reach a specific orbital inclination.

For example, if we want a polar orbit, we can tow the launch ship to the polar waters to reduce the impact of the Earth's rotation on the launch, making it easier to reach the intended 90-degree orbit.

The last one is sea launch. You can launch whenever you want without any restrictions.

This will help us to launch a mining ship to the predetermined orbit as quickly as possible after we capture a valuable asteroid in the future."

Tim was very surprised. Before talking with Chen Yuanguang, he also thought that asteroid mining was impossible, or that it was a goal that would not produce results in the short term.

I didn't expect that Chen Yuanguang and his team really took this as a goal and had a very strong direction.

Tim asked: "Light God, how long do you think it will take to realize asteroid mining?"

Chen Yuanguang said: "It depends on how you define it. If it means any asteroid, and bringing something back is considered mining, then we can do it next year.

But if you mean to generate profits, to be able to actually mine valuable rare metals, and the profits can cover the costs, then I estimate it will take about eight years, which is a more reasonable estimate. "

Tim showed a longing look: "Eight years pass in the blink of an eye, God of Light, I want to schedule an interview with you eight years from now, and then we can see together whether the flag we set now has been achieved."

Chen Yuanguang laughed: "Okay, no problem!"

He is very optimistic and thinks eight years is an extremely conservative estimate.

Tim then asked: "What do you think about Mars colonization? Can we see it in our lifetime?"

Chen Yuanguang said: "I don't know, going to Mars is definitely possible, but immigration involves too many aspects, I'm not sure.

If ten people go there and build a space station, that's considered immigration. If a thousand people go there and build a Mars research base, that's also considered immigration. If ten thousand people go there and build a small town, that's also considered immigration."

He really didn't know what the Earth in this time and space could achieve with him.

While Chen Yuanguang was being interviewed by Tim, the rocket launch of Guangjia Aerospace was being live-broadcasted simultaneously on major platforms including Bilibili, TikTok, and YouTube. Ordinary people took a look at the live-broadcast room and saw it was pitch black. The only way to stay in there was to watch the barrage of comments.

"Why hasn't it fired yet? I've been waiting for half an hour!"

"Where is the God of Light? God of Light, come out and say something!"

"Where are the people? Is there anyone there? What kind of underworld live broadcast room is this?"

"The God of Light is here to sell the goods. Just bring the big guy behind you. One, two, three, go to the link. I will buy it if you do. If you really do it, just ignore what I said."

The comments from netizens are far more interesting than those in the live broadcast room.

I am more concerned about my peers, especially my domestic peers.

As for foreign counterparts, their competitors are SpaceX, NASA, and the European Space Agency. These major orders never fall into the hands of Guangjia Aerospace.

The successful launch of Guangjia Aerospace's Pioneer 1 has had the greatest impact on domestic commercial aerospace companies.

Yao Song, the founder of Oriental Space, was sitting in front of his computer, checking his phone while waiting for the rocket to launch.

His hair has turned a lot whiter during this period. Originally, they planned to complete the A and pre-A rounds of financing this year, with the goal of raising 7 million yuan.

There are few good projects in China, even fewer good scientific research projects, and even fewer scientific research projects with clear business models and certain results.

Before the emergence of light armor aerospace, Oriental Space was such a project.

We have achieved certain results. We have orders, including those from Changguang Satellite. We have funds, including 21 million yuan raised during the 4 virus epidemic. We have talents, including a number of people poached from the Long March series of rockets.

Compared with SpaceX, which is valued at 1500 billion US dollars, as a company benchmarked against it, I should be worth at least tens of billions of RMB in the future, right?
According to the country's preference for technology companies, listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board is a great success, with a market value of tens of billions of RMB easily.

That is why Yao Song was so determined to reject Chen Yuanguang's acquisition.

When Chen Yuanguang said he wanted to acquire the company for 2 million yuan, they had not yet completed the 4 million yuan financing. After the 4 million yuan financing was completed, Yao Song felt that his decision was correct.

As a result, the progress of Guangjia Aerospace in the development of reusable rockets has made the prospects of Oriental Space dim.

"I'm sorry, we need to re-evaluate this project, Mr. Yao, you need to wait a little longer."

"Mr. Yao, we are very interested in the Oriental Space project. It is a good project, but do we need to reconsider the valuation and financing amount?"

"Mr. Yao, I just want to ask you one thing. How do you face the competition from Light Armor Aerospace? According to the information we got from our business research, Light Armor Aerospace has poached a large number of core R&D personnel from you recently.

Guangjia Aerospace's appeal to talent is obviously much stronger than yours.

In addition, the reusable rocket segment is a market close to a zero-sum game. Apart from the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China, there is only one private enterprise that can take up all the market share.

Guangjia Aerospace raised $20 billion in its first round of financing, and its perovskite battery technology provides a steady stream of cash flow.

Their financial advantage is too great. At the same time, Chen Yuanguang holds the vast majority of Guangjia Technology's shares, which can be turned into ammunition and launched into Guangjia Aerospace at any time.

What are the advantages of Oriental Space under all these unfavorable conditions? "

The communication with investors during this period made Yao Song feel deeply frustrated. Everyone wanted to wait for the results of Guangjia Aerospace's rocket launch.

　Asking for a ticket at the beginning of the month

　　
　
(End of this chapter)