Chapter 108 - 104 No Comment_1

After sending Hamand and West Sweden out the door with an expression that was a mixture of three parts helplessness, three parts gratitude, and four parts hesitation, Lin Ju and Androff exchanged glances, their bodies shaking uncontrollably with a terrifying laughter.

Moon landing + second man + transport near Earth from Mecca, a total of 13 billion US dollars, funding gap solved at 200%.

There were some projects Abe didn’t dare to invest in yet, but Androff didn’t believe he couldn’t squeeze out the money after the success of the moon landing.

Taking off from Abermuscala on the Mecca vessel, docking to land on the Moon, and then taking the Mecca vessel from low Earth orbit on the return trip, this was the plan that West Sweden and Hamand guaranteed the old king would wholeheartedly approve of.

Because it was such an honor for Abe, even spending 79.8 billion RMB was considered completely worth it.

When Androff announced the price per person, in order to leave some room for negotiation, he only raised one finger and uttered the words "ten billion".

He really wanted to say US dollars, but fearing the price would scare them off, he simply omitted the currency. To his surprise, Hamand’s eyes lit up immediately: "Ten billion US dollars?"

The first trip to the Moon, for only 10 billion US dollars?!

Lin Ju was nearly suffocated by the Saudi petro-dollars, struggling to breathe evenly.

He didn’t know what the aerospace agency was thinking; hell with it, let’s talk money first.

...

On September 17th, the fully packed Unity sat atop the New Yuan-2, which was being used for the fourth time, awaiting launch.

Deng Lei, embarking on his third space outing, appeared to be completely at ease, casually checking the electrical equipment while still having the energy to joke around with the five crew members.

The astronauts from five different countries sat in the cabin, leisurely looking out at the blue sky and white clouds, all agreeing that "this is what real spaceflight feels like".

At 12 o’clock, the International Space Station had already passed Kazakhstan, and New Yuan-2 ignited, carrying out Unity’s second manned flight mission.

At 13:55 in the afternoon, after a little more than one orbit chase, Unity successfully caught up with the International Space Station and carefully docked with the Harmony module.

The modified hatch of the capsule opened, and five International Space Station astronauts exited one by one under guidance, followed by four returnees who climbed in and buckled themselves in with Deng Lei’s assistance.

During this process, Deng Lei, upon a warm invitation from the ISS astronauts, briefly entered the Harmony module and took a pile of photos as proof of a Chinese person’s visit to the ISS.

Over an hour later, when Deng Lei was ready to disengage and return to the atmosphere, an astronaut from the ISS captured a final picture of him casually adjusting the course before the docking hatch closed, as if he were a driver confirming the route of a booked cab.

These pictures and Deng Lei nearly returned to Earth at the same time. This time Deng Lei didn’t even stop for a meal upon landing, symbolically making a quick exit to meet the matchmaker, just like a worker hurrying off after the day’s work.

The other four ISS astronauts each took a plane and left; they weren’t Chinese astronauts and didn’t have high public exposure, so everything seemed so ordinary.

But for the aerospace agency, Lin Ju had once again stirred up trouble.

Abe had transferred 6.5 billion US dollars into China’s foreign exchange control account, claiming it was a down payment made for the joint Moon landing project.

Aerospace agency: ???

Foreign Ministry: ???

It was at this time they discovered that on the same day New Yuan and Abe’s aerospace agency had discreetly signed an agreement without disclosing the amount, only stating that Abe would cooperate with New Yuan Aerospace Power Company in lunar development work.

Asking New Yuan yielded no answers—just "commercial confidentiality, no comment."

Moon development? 6.5 billion US dollars for a deposit on Moon development? Are you going to mine helium-3 on the Moon?

The aerospace agency’s bigwigs were full of question marks, unable to get any answers.

Instinct told them something tremendous was afoot, so they hurriedly used special channels to obtain some insider information, and then they were all stupefied.

Moon landing before 2020, and the Lunar Scientific Investigation Station – why did that sound so familiar?

"But you’re just a private space company, hey, do you have to be so aggressive, even starting to sell tickets already!"

Given the magnitude of the affair, the higher-ups placed great emphasis on it, calling the space agency over to inquire: Could New Yuan Aerospace Power Company really land on the Moon? Was it a bluff or the real deal?

Experts from the space agency and the academy of engineering attended to analyze the capabilities of New Yuan Aerospace Power Company, listing them one by one, and then realized that it actually might be possible.

If they could build a small space shuttle, then a lunar spacecraft should naturally pose no problem, and neither should the lander and ascender.

The most critical component was the giant rocket capable of reaching the Moon. They estimated that New Yuan could probably produce two New Yuan-2 rockets in half a year, and perhaps four after expansion.

With its CBC configuration, the New Yuan-2 could easily be upgraded to New Yuan-2A, capable of lifting 135 tons into low Earth orbit and making moon landings a breeze.

That is to say, with three cores, New Yuan 1A could produce at least four units in three years, which would suffice even for single-use scenarios.

One rocket test launch, one space test of the landing vehicle, one manned circumlunar flight, and one moon landing;

If you add the test flight of the large space shuttle and the time needed for preparations, there would be a few more launch missions, but not too many.

What’s more, the New Yuan-2A is reusable!

Based on their estimation, factoring in the time for the development and deployment of related landers and facilities, if New Yuan Aerospace Power Company was determined to go to the Moon, it would take around 20 billion in funding and just over three years.

billion seems like a lot, but when converted to US dollars, it’s only 3.2 billion, and Abbas has already sent a 6.5 billion US dollar deposit. Evidently, there was almost no issue with funds.

When the experts presented this result to their superiors, the entire scene froze.

According to China’s timeline, manned moon landings were expected to be completed between 2025 to 2030, with the rockets for the moon landing not only unbuilt but not even designed yet!

The superior’s eternally unchanged expression began to solidify like an iceberg, and after a long while, he asked with a sliver of hope, "Going to the Moon is a costly affair. Why would a private company be so eager to explore space? Are they really going back? Why hasn’t Space X Company done this?"

Big Shot: "I may have a guess about that. Lin Ju is very young, so he has the vigor of youth. Now that he has a substantial amount of funding and the capability, he will definitely go. Perhaps at this time, landing on the Moon is more important to him than making more money.

Besides... he is very supportive of our national projects, offering very favorable prices for undertaking our tasks."

"So, you mean they might not postpone their plans?"

"Unless there is a technical issue, that’s what I believe," Big Shot said.

Another moment of silence ensued before the superior’s voice was heard again:

"Vigor, vigor. Have we maybe been lying low for too long, forgetting that it was precisely by relying on our vigor that we broke through the encirclement of powerful nations and carved out a peaceful sky for ourselves?

Academician She, the space agency, can we manage to land on the Moon within three years? Provided we only aim to deliver humans to the lunar surface."

The experts in attendance understood the underlying message in these words. The previous government view on moon landings was: naturally, we’ll do it when we have the money and capability. If we were to do it at all, we wouldn’t want a vanity project, but rather a grand and impressive research station in one go.

But now the superior’s train of thought was clearly changing. Perhaps it was necessary to compete for this prestige and indeed, it was time to pursue both the facade and the substance.

This matter couldn’t rely on private space firms any longer. If only private enterprises managed human moon landings, the space agency might as well disband altogether.

This was not only the thought of the superiors but was also directly communicated, causing those present to lower their heads.

"New Yuan Aerospace Power Company has not been established for long, but its achievements are numerous. Even by domestic standards, it’s undoubtedly a large enterprise.

This year’s manned mission was conducted by their rocket in less than a year, but how long did it take for CZ-5 to go from planning to success? Admittedly, trough commercial means, they have accessed much more substantial funding, but if we too provided the same level of financial support, couldn’t the space agency and the entire country’s power do even better?

In the rescue mission this August, they demonstrated technical capabilities that, in my view, have already surpassed the space agency."

The superior spoke frankly, mentioning projects like the reusable rocket, heavy-lift rocket, and space shuttle – each one a significant endeavor the space agency would need to put much effort into completing.

New Yuan’s series of successes within a year, especially as a private enterprise, had led the superiors to distrust the space agency and even to doubt whether the space agency’s development path was the wrong one, which was why the Aerospace Development Committee was established.