Chapter 266 Sharpening the Knife

SpecaX base in Texas.

Lao Ma and a dozen engineers wearing NACA logo T-shirts sat on chairs and watched the introduction of Tom Mueller, the chief designer of Starship, the chief designer of Falcon 9, and the leader of Merlin series engines.

"…The design goal of Starship is to be a multi-purpose planetary spacecraft with a variety of application scenarios, which will completely change the traditional concept of astronautics.

On Earth, Starship can reach any corner within 1 hour through vertical take-off and landing and rudder maneuvers; in lunar missions, it only needs a little modification to be used as a lander, spacecraft and returner, including Mars, Europa and any other landable planets!

It is made of stainless steel, which is cheap and strong. The dry mass ratio is not so sensitive to recyclable rockets. Even as a traditional rocket, it can achieve a maximum load of 200 to 300 tons..."

Tom Mueller talked about the prospects of Starship spacecraft incessantly. The NACA engineer below just listened with a cold face and did not say a word until the other party finished asking:

"So, what is the total investment of the Starship plan?"

Musk: "3 billion US dollars, give me two years, and it can travel in the solar system."

NACA engineers nodded slightly, whispered to each other and discussed something in a low voice. After a long time, they slowly took out the list.

"After NACA's evaluation, we believe that Starship-Super Heavy has the potential to be a general-purpose aerospace vehicle, and we have decided to provide partial funding and the following technical support:

TUFROC overall toughened anti-oxidation composite structure insulation tile;

9-meter large diameter rocket body manufacturing technology;

In-atmosphere flight control system technology;

...

A total of 14 key technologies, worth $1 billion in support, gentlemen, I hope you can create miracles, maybe in 2024 our astronauts will take the Starship spacecraft to land on Mars."

Musk breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this series of technical lists, and a smile appeared on his face. He shook the visitor's hand:

"Thank you, SpecaX continues to move forward to the depths to carry Aramco's dream of spaceflight."

"Mr. Elon, I hope you respect some traditional technologies more. NACA is not an antique."

The NACA engineer's joke embarrassed the old Ma. When the prototype of the Starship spacecraft was built, he had planned to use a stainless steel shell to resist atmospheric friction to save costs.

The test results showed that no matter how much it was strengthened, it would cause structural damage. They had to add thermal insulation tile technology when requesting NACA technical support. The latest thermal insulation tile they obtained, which is used by the official X37B, adopts a hexagonal honeycomb structure and is more durable.

Not only will Starship use it, but Dream Chaser and FATS programs are also using it, which is much more advanced than the old space shuttle program.

After a long period of thinking, NACA finally decided to support Starship. Although there are some risks in multiple launches in parallel, this is currently the fastest way to get a super rocket.

Whether it is the rocket body or the engine, NACA will provide technical assistance and require Starship to complete its first flight before the Artemis III mission, that is, before the official moon landing, as a carrier for subsequent missions.

After John won the election, Director Claire began to prepare for the Mars plan. Reusable giant rockets must be done without a doubt. Disposable rocket funds are a small matter, and low launch frequency is a hard flaw.

What's more, SLS is about to be launched, and the budget has been overspent by more than double. If it still depends entirely on SLS in the future, it will be too wasteful.

As for old manufacturers such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, their appetite and reaction speed are not as reliable as SpecaX, so Claire must not put all her hopes on them.

…

"Samarkand, you should know that heavy rockets cannot be successfully built by simply stacking them."

"Yes, the GSLV project has consumed a lot of our energy, you are right."

In Moscow, Samarkand was taken by the Russians to visit several aerospace design bureaus, admired many grand plans and advanced products, drooled all the way, and even the pride that Indian brothers are used to was suppressed.

Sivan Samarkand studied at the Imperial College of Technology since he was a child, and went to Germany and Aramco. Compared with the arrogant people in China, he is a little more pragmatic in thinking about problems, so he is more aware of the technological gap between India and Russia.

The Gaganyan plan has been promoted for decades, and from a technical level, it can be described as breaking through the lower limit of aerospace technology.

If we really want to compare, it is probably more advanced than the "Vostok" that Gagarin took?

Look at the "Eagle" spacecraft that Lucia is developing. It is of the same level as the new spacecraft of China and Aramco, and it surpasses the Gaganyan spacecraft by a lot.

Although both sides ideally believed that they could land on the moon in 2020 when they envisioned the Asian Star plan with the island country, they could calm down immediately after looking at their own assets, knowing that it was somewhat unreliable.

Fortunately, as a loyal victim of Lucia, Samarkand still believed that he could seek technical help here.

Yuri first praised his third brother: "The design concept of the Gaganyan plan is very advanced. Landing in the Indian Ocean can save a lot of mass. This idea is very good, but do you really plan to send people up next year?"

"Of course!"

Shiven Samarkand stood at attention and straightened his chest like a conditioned reflex, but his eyes clearly had something to say.

Yuri: ...

Fortunately, he was used to the way that the third brother refused to admit defeat. Samarkand also reacted and lowered his head a little, whispering:

"Of course, if there is a country with more experience in aerospace technology that can provide some support, the Gaganyan spacecraft will be more reassuring. India is willing to pay for such friendship."

Yuri looked at the three fingers raised by Samarkand, squinted and shook his head slightly.

The latter gritted his teeth and raised four fingers.

Yuri still shook his head. Samarkand thought for a long time with a bitter face, and opened one palm completely.

Yuri closed all his fingers with both hands and said sincerely:

"Lucia is willing to fully support our Indian friends in developing independent aerospace. The Gaganyan plan is too small. You will need a space station and the Asian Star plan to go to the moon in the future. RKA can provide full support."

Samarkand understood. What Yuri actually wanted to say was that you are sending this little thing away.

"Well, then..."

Yuri interrupted him and got straight to the point:

"Lucia and the Alliance have had many experiences in designing lunar landers. Aren't you responsible for the design of the lander for the Asia Star Project? Why not participate in our lunar exploration program to accumulate experience?"

Samarkand: "Lucia... want to restart lunar exploration? The last Luna 24 probe was in 1976, right?"

Yuri: "Luna 25 is already being manufactured. You can participate in it to obtain the process and technology of lunar landing, and develop your own unmanned probes and manned landers.

There is also the H-X rocket, a heavy rocket with a takeoff weight of 1,500 tons. You should know the difficulty, but this is nothing for Lucia."

Samarkand: "So how much does it cost?"

Yuri: "Measuring friendship with money is a huge harm to our friendship. Why don't we go to the cocktail party to relax for a while?"