Chapter 115 On-site Observation
In the long run, Light Armor Aerospace will need to develop its own engines sooner or later.

It’s just that developing an engine takes time, and it takes even longer to develop an engine that meets their current needs.

In this window, the best way is to buy, buy existing mature technology.

The Vulcan engine is the engine used by Ariane 5, Europe's largest rocket with the largest carrying capacity. Its thrust is not among the top rocket engines, but its biggest advantage is stability.

If Guangjia Aerospace wants to follow the path of SpaceX and aggregate multiple engines, like the starship they are currently developing, it will use dozens of engines in total.

If you want to go this route, stability and controllability are the biggest advantages. After internal research and analysis by Guangjia Aerospace, it is believed that the Vulcan engine is relatively easy to obtain.

The Energia launch vehicle developed by Damao's predecessor is more attractive. It was produced more than 30 years ago and has undergone several rounds of major changes. They are not sure whether Damao still has relevant complete technical materials left.

In comparison, the Vulcan engine used by Ariane 5, which was retired a few years ago, is easier to obtain.

As for the Wassenaar Arrangement that Frank and Wolf are worried about, if they want patents and go for an open transaction, they naturally cannot circumvent this restriction.

"We only need technical data. As long as the European side keeps the transaction of technical data confidential, no one will know that the technology of the Pioneer series rockets comes from the European Space Agency," said Chen Yuanguang.

Frank and Wolf smiled bitterly at each other. They were both supporters of Greater Europe. As they grew older, they realized more and more that all European organizations, without exception, had been infiltrated by America and had no secrets at all.

As a man who came from the age of iron and fire, after listening to what Chen Yuanguang said, Wolf had a premonition that once this favorable deal was completed, Joseph would be found committed suicide at home.

This kind of cooperation is not just cooperation itself. Since reusable rockets and rocket engines can be traded, can more transactions be completed in the future?

Now that the EU’s “self-developed” reusable rocket has been completed, can the EU also get a share of the subsequent international space station transportation projects instead of having SpaceX take over everything?

China has mastered the launch technology of large-yield reusable rockets and occupied the original orbit of Starlink, leaving a gap in the Starlink plan.

These are all serious damages to American interests.

Wolf and Frank could both think of this. Emotionally, they undoubtedly hoped that Europe would get better and better and that Europe's space industry would get out of its current predicament. The problem was that taking this path meant going against America.

They believed that it was absolutely impossible for the European cooperation organization, which had been deeply infiltrated, to keep the secret and successfully complete the transaction.

As soon as the deal was completed, it was exposed by the English media gathered on Fleet Street, and Joseph was found "committed suicide" in his home.

Seeing Frank and Wolfe's uncertain faces, as if they wanted to say something but didn't, Chen Yuanguang guessed what they were worried about:
“Our transaction can be done in an encrypted transmission mode. You can encrypt the technical materials using robust image steganography technology, and then find a way to hand over the storage device to me.

The deal is done.”

Because engine technology cannot be all text, it must involve a large number of design drawings. When it comes to images, text encryption will not work, and robust steganography technology must be used.

Frank stroked his already sparse hair and said, "Dr. Wright, that's not what we're worried about.

You are right, there is always a way as long as we want to, but the problem is that we cannot guarantee that the transaction will not be discovered.

The European Space Agency has its own set of technical management standards. After we digitize all the technical materials, we need to go through a process to extract the technology from the database.

It's not as easy as you think, that only a few people in the middle can make the decision.

With so many people involved and formal procedures involved, not only will the executives of the European Space Agency in Paris know about our transaction with Guangjia Aerospace, but Brussels and Washington will also know about it.

There will be a very strong reaction from Washington.”

What Frank didn't finish saying was that Washington must either wield the stick of the Wassenaar Arrangement to hammer the European Space Agency, or take private measures to force the people who prompted this to commit suicide.

If the process management is strict, it will be troublesome when encountering something that requires flexible operation.

Just like many companies use OA to follow the process, so all the data is stored online, when you want to find the historical process, it is much faster than searching in paper documents, but when facing an audit, when you want to hide some inappropriate processes in the past, even if you delete them on the system side, there will still be records at the database level.

Chen Yuanguang thought about it and said, "This is not a problem.

Everything is electronic, and there are advantages to being electronic. After you discover a malicious vulnerability in this system, you can tell me the vulnerability and the location of the Vulcan engine before the vulnerability is fixed.

Then I will copy the technology and you can fix the vulnerability.”

The operation method mentioned by Chen Yuanguang only involves a few people, IT technicians of the Electronic Archives and several senior executives of the European Space Agency.

It can be controlled within a very small range, and the fewer people there are, the less likely it is to leak information.

The problem is that this is of no benefit to Frank and Wolfe. Wolfe is already retired at the age of 80, and Frank is the director of the Astronaut Center. After the European Space Agency obtained the reusable rocket technology, it was done completely in secret, and no credit will be given to him.

This is a belief, the belief of the old astronauts who saw the increasing decline of Europe's space industry and wanted to do something.

Frank said, "We will discuss this with Mr. Joseph when we get back."

Chen Yuanguang nodded: "What about Pioneer 1 launching the human hibernation equipment?"

“We’re going to push this as far as we can,” Frank said.

We also hope to see the reusable rocket technology of Guangjia Aerospace with our own eyes before completing the technology transaction. "

Chen Yuanguang asked: "Our rocket launch this year will be this week, and it will be launched at sea. Can you two stay for a few more days?

If we have time, we can go to the scene to watch it together. It takes about two hours by plane to get there. "

You can’t catch big fish without some bait, Chen Yuanguang thought.

After returning to the hotel, Frank and Wolf looked at each other. They felt that the density of information involved in today's conversation with Chen Yuanguang was too high and it was completely beyond their ability to decide.

The dilemma faced by the European Space Agency is that it has not produced any significant results for a long time and is highly dependent on American for the development of its space industry.

At least Russia can use its own launch vehicles to launch cargo to the International Space Station. After Europe's Ariane 5 was retired, there were no medium or large rockets to take over.

The rockets used by some commercial airlines are all small rockets, which can at best launch some remote sensing satellites. Not only are their equivalents small, but their launch altitudes are also very limited.

Europe's space industry has almost fallen into silence.

They need new highlights, and introducing external partners is a solution.

SpaceX is highly tied to the American military and doesn't think highly of them at all.

The reason we found Light Armor Aerospace is that European astronauts stay in the space station for three months, half a year or even longer. They generally say that these days are too difficult, and hibernation equipment can help them solve the psychological torment.

Secondly, the successful launch of Guangjia Aerospace's reusable rocket last year made the European Space Agency covetous, and they hope to obtain this technology.

Joseph talked to them before coming and said he would guide them in this direction.

The Wassenaar Arrangement prevents participating countries from selling technology to China, not that they cannot buy technology from China.

Before they could express their intention, Chen Yuanguang took the initiative to propose something, but they could not decide on the price.

"This deal has to be done," said Wolfe, who trained at the Marshall Space Flight Center in the United States and taught many Americans there.

He has a good personal relationship with many people in NASA, but this does not mean that he stands on the side of America. As a West German, he undoubtedly has deep feelings for Europe.

After retirement, he continued to work as an external expert for the European Space Agency, otherwise he would not have been invited this time.

Frank said: “Of course, take useless technology and exchange it for useful technology.

Europe's creation of its own reusable rocket is an achievement worth publicizing, both for its superiors in Paris and for EU officials in Brussels.

The problem is that this deal is too sensitive and faces various problems.”

Wolf said decisively: "When we go to Yantai this week, let's discuss it after we have a live observation. If Wright is trading a bundled reusable launch vehicle based on the optimized Vulcan engine, then we must complete the deal.

We have to make a deal no matter what, even if we have to ask Macron to help us, we have to get it.

Let me take care of this matter.”

Wolf thought that he was old, had been a professor, and had been to space, so his life was worth it. He didn't mind making this trip, even if his life was in danger.

Wolfe continued: “If it’s just the version of technology we saw last year, then we have to think about it.

If it were just this technology, it wouldn’t be worth the risk.”

They have agreed to fly to Yantai with Chen Yuanguang to watch the first sea launch of Guangjia Aerospace.

This launch was not just a sea launch. The Pioneer 1 was also upgraded to the Pioneer 2. Compared with the Pioneer 1, this generation of Pioneer has multiple rocket engines. Like the Falcon 9, it adopts a multi-engine bundled launch.

The payload capacity reaches two-thirds of that of Falcon 9.

Once the Vulcan engine is used, the carrying capacity will be larger than the Falcon 9 currently in service by SpaceX.

Of course, China's engine technology can also be used, but compared with the Vulcan engine, China's engine technology requires longer debugging when performing cluster launches, and its stability is not as good as the Vulcan.

Frank said: "Let's wait until we have watched the Chinese rocket launch.

Neither you nor I can decide on this matter. We have to wait for news from Paris.

We have to ask them to change their flight and go directly back to Paris, where they can finish discussing this before returning to Cologne."

The European Space Agency is in Paris and the Astronaut Center is in Cologne.

"Hello everyone, we are here again. Compared with the last time, this time the rocket launch of Light Armor Aerospace has moved from Jiuquan in the Gobi Desert to Yantai on the coast. This is also the first use of the Light Armor after its completion.

This space launch vessel, which cost 7 million RMB, was used for the first time. The launch target of this Pioneer rocket was geosynchronous orbit.

Unlike the last experimental rocket launch, this time the Pioneer carried the mission of launching five satellites into space in one launch.

Tim was standing on the beach, talking to photographer Xiao Li's camera, his hair completely messed up by the sea breeze.

This was the first launch of a bundled reusable rocket and also the first launch of the Guangjia. Almost all the employees of Guangjia Aerospace were present.

Just like last time, they also invited Tim to come and shoot the filming, including the rocket specially designed by Tim and his team, which will also be sent into the predetermined orbit by the Trailblazer rocket.

Because this is the first time, the scene is quite big.

In addition to Guangjia Aerospace employees, official media, self-media invited by Guangjia Aerospace, and partners, the visitors also included representatives of Guangjia Aerospace's investors, representatives from Yantai, and domestic aerospace experts and officials.

The scene was packed with people, with hundreds of people waiting on the shore to watch the launch results of Pioneer 2.

There were too many people, and just as many people were trying to talk to Chen Yuanguang, so Chen Yuanguang had no time to greet Frank and Wolfe at all.

Fortunately, officials from China's aerospace department were very interested in these two people, and they were responsible for dealing with Wolf and the other two.

"Dr. Wolf, welcome to China." Gui Hai is a professor at Beihang University and also the third batch of astronauts to enter the International Space Station.

He will be boarding the Shenzhou 16 rocket to enter the Chinese space station next month. This time he came to Yantai, one is to observe the launch of Pioneer 2, and the other is to have a chat with Wolf.

It is very common for scientists to go into space and conduct scientific research on space stations abroad. They have been doing this since the last century, but this is the first time in China.

Wolfe was one of the first scientists to conduct experiments in space, and he was engaged in payload experiments.

Gui Hai will be the first Chinese scientist to go into space. He is very interested in Wolfe's experience and it is a rare opportunity to talk to him in person.

After Gui Hai briefly introduced himself, Wolfe couldn't help but feel deeply moved when he saw that such a young astronaut had the opportunity to go to space to conduct experiments just like he did when he was young, even though he himself was already old.

On the other side, Chen Yuanguang was chatting with the aviation department leader: "We don't mind using reusable rockets to make some deals."

For Chen Yuanguang at present, the fastest way is of course to move technology from the future to the present. However, doing so carries the risk of explaining the origin of the technology. This is one reason.

Secondly, he hopes to train the team. Regardless of whether the rocket engines are obtained from Europe or China, he will not use these technologies directly. Instead, he requires the R&D personnel of Guangjia Aerospace to iterate on this basis and build a large-yield bundled rocket.

The middle-aged man in a white shirt and with a scholarly air said, "When the technology is traded, the department may need to make an assessment."

Chen Yuanguang said: "Okay, this is what I think. Even if I have the technology for reusable rockets, we won't be able to get orders from Europe.

SpaceX has almost monopolized all the orders in Europe, so I might as well give the technology to Europe and trade it for some useful technology to maximize its value.

As for whether Europe will resell our technology to other countries, such as Japan, these countries have no commercial dealings with us in the aerospace field, so the sale will not have much impact.

The agency most likely to be affected is the European Space Agency itself.”

The other party had a strong technocratic tone, so Chen Yuanguang spoke very frankly.

"We can also sell technology to the China Aerospace Industry Corporation, and we can conduct joint research and development in the future.

What I just said is the purpose that is easy to think of on the surface.

There is a deeper purpose in private. I said that Guangjia Aerospace must become a learning organization. It needs a lot of experience to train the team, whether it is rocket launch experience or satellite design, probe design and so on.

The demand of Light Armor Aerospace itself is not enough to train a large-scale team. We need to get other countries involved as well. If there is no demand, we can create it.

Take Europe as an example. It doesn’t matter if they don’t entrust the rocket launch to Guangjia Aerospace. We can still cooperate in satellite design, probe design and lunar landing.

Moreover, we cannot cooperate with Europe. Once Europe has the ability to launch large-scale satellites, demands will arise from countries such as South America, India, Southeast Asia, etc., and we can cooperate with these countries.

The diffusion of technology has brought about the activation of the global commercial aerospace market, and Light Armor Aerospace will gain a lot of opportunities from it.

We have recently signed rocket launch contracts with Bolivia, Brazil and Indonesia, and the contract with Bolivia also includes remote sensing satellite design.

The most demanding market in the entire commercial aviation market is monopolized by SpaceX, and the second most demanding market in China is monopolized by state-owned institutions. We have no choice but to seek markets abroad.”

A hidden space was deliberately cordoned off here, and the nearest people to them were about ten meters away.

However, these are open conspiracies, so it doesn't matter even if they are known to the outside world.

The middle-aged man nodded after listening: "It's a very good design, but the domestic market space is indeed limited.

But you just mentioned it yourself, the business Europe will give you will only be marginal business.”

Chen Yuanguang said: “There are enough marginal businesses, marginal businesses in Europe, and core businesses in Southeast Asia and South America.

What I need is data and training the team. Money is not important to us at all."

The middle-aged man asked: "What kind of help do you need from the country?"

Chen Yuanguang said: "Give me higher authority.

Things like reusable rocket technology, which SpaceX doesn’t sell, we do.

Of course, there are conditions for the sale. We want to buy technology that is valuable to us, and I am willing to share the purchased technology with the country unconditionally."

Chen Yuanguang is very savvy and knows what to do if he wants to make a living in China.

(End of this chapter)