Chapter 121 - 117 Long March 15_1

Apart from Russia’s Yuri, Antoine and Badis, these two rather unique heads of space agencies from France and Italy, also discreetly arrived in China.

Their purpose was the same as Yuri’s, also focusing on the Moon and the space station.

The world’s four major space organizations, the European Space Agency, NACA, Russia Space Agency, and China’s National Space Administration; theoretically, China’s National Space Administration was the weakest in strength, but the combined technical power of the European Space Agency was actually very strong.

The Russia Space Agency had the technical foundation but lacked money, NACA was too spread out with too many costly endeavors, and while the European Space Agency had money and technology, it was indeed the most chaotic.

With so many countries in Europe, everyone had their own specializations – one excelled at combustion chambers, another at turbo pumps, another designed excellent rocket bodies – all having great strength in particular domains but lacked all-around integration and couldn’t unite closely.

Just like America’s current Artemis program, unlike Apollo program half a century ago, it opened cooperation to 11 countries, naturally including European countries.

But the problem with the Artemis program was the need to wait in line, and everyone knew that relying on NACA, which could indefinitely stall the process, was not a viable option.

Although China’s National Space Administration did not yet have a heavy-lift rocket, as the world’s largest industrial power with steel production exceeding the sum of second to twentieth places and the second-largest economy, if China really determined to land on the Moon, nobody would doubt their success.

Even more outrageous was that China had managed to support a private aerospace company that could stand shoulder to shoulder with the major space organizations and also had potential capabilities to carry out manned lunar missions, which truly aroused envy.

The two men stayed in Capital for a few days with Yuri, while inside Aerospace Development Committee, discussion took place on whether to accept them or not.

The Space Administration was certainly willing to accept them, not to mention France and Italy had many unique technologies, and just the international significance of this matter alone was worth pursuit. However, Tiangong Space Station was operated by Aerospace Development Committee, and New Yuan Aeronautics’ opinion was equally important, so the issue was thrown over to them.

Xinyuan’s liaison, with Lin Ju’s authorization, agreed, with an almost hands-off attitude towards Tiangong Space Station except for some necessary but understandable restrictions.

While the Space Administration was somewhat relieved, they also quietly wondered why Lin Ju was not concerned about such an important space station?

It wasn’t until November 13th, when the Space Administration was about to launch the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft towards the already docked Cloud Palace-Tiangong No.2 complex, that they learned a piece of information.

New Yuan had sent a new round of orders to downstream companies, one of which belonged to Aerospace Eighth Academy. From the batch of components, it could be deduced that they would be used in a giant rocket with a diameter of at least 10 meters.

The Big Shot quickly checked Xinyuan Company’s official website and soon found the corresponding rocket.

It was the New Yuan No. 3 giant rocket. The parameters previously set for this rocket had slightly changed: the 11-meter diameter and the layout of 19 K380 engines at the base remained the same, but the thrust had increased from 7300 tons to 7500 tons, launch mass 5900 tons, low Earth orbit carrying capacity 247 tons, and lunar transfer orbit capacity 101 tons.

The announced carrying capacity was slightly lower than before, but it also meant that this was no longer just a PowerPoint presentation; it had entered the substantial phase of argumentation, research, development, and manufacturing. They were truly planning to build it!

"This is insane!"

The Big Shot was looking at data in the Manned Space Flight Office when Academician She, who was there to revise the plan for the Lunar Scientific Investigation Station, came over.

Academician She leaned over and learned that New Yuan Aeronautics was very likely in the process of manufacturing the New Yuan No. 3 giant rocket, his surprise contorting his aged face.

"The CBC configuration of New Yuan-2 was enough for a moon landing, and their rocket reliability is not bad either. Why are they still researching a giant rocket? This is even more exaggerated than CZ-9!"

The current reference to CZ-9 is still the initial old configuration, with four boosters each having two YF130 engines, and the core stage having four YF130 engines, producing a total thrust of 5700 tons, with a designed low Earth orbit carrying capacity of 150 tons, which already surpasses Saturn V. But now New Yuan No. 3 was boasting a launch thrust of 7500 tons.

Academician She did not doubt New Yuan’s technical capabilities; after all, the company was truly outrageous as if it was on a roll that couldn’t possibly be stolen from foreign sources, but what were they making such a powerful giant rocket for? Landing on Mars?

Wait, that might indeed be a possibility!

The Big Shot saw Academician She lower his head in thought for a while, suddenly his face turned ashen as if in severe discomfort. He hurriedly asked what was happening, then heard about Lin Ju’s possible preparations for landing on Mars.

"Are you sure? Landing on Mars? It’s not just about having a suitable rocket, right?"

"The biggest issue with landing on Mars is the rocket. Since the last century, countries have assessed that at least a 300-ton spacecraft is needed. But with two launches of New Yuan No. 3, that would be enough. A ten-meter-diameter cabin could only be intended for deep space travel, a large volume spacecraft that needs a giant rocket would be for that purpose;

Moreover, New Yuan is now developing a nuclear propulsion program, right? If they join the A100 project, the success rate will approach 99%. It only takes a few days to reach the Moon, and nuclear propulsion isn’t even necessary."

"Hiss."

The Big Shot inhaled half the room’s cool air in one breath, and Academician She had already taken the other half, which made everyone else feel quite a bit warmer.

Once again, he felt the gravity of the situation and after a long pause, he said:

"Let’s not report this for now. We can’t possibly engage in an endless space race with a private company, can we? This is just speculation for the moment, no need to jump to conclusions."

Academician She said, "But look at how indifferent they are about the space station. What could be more attractive than this?"

"It won’t be the case. Even if these subsystems are to be developed, it would take over three to four years. Besides, a Mars landing also has its window restrictions. At the very least, it won’t commence until after the lunar mission is concluded."

Academician She slapped his forehead, "I forgot about that. The next window for Mars exploration is around May to June of 2018. If they really intend to go, they would have to send unmanned probes first. The subsequent windows are in 2020 and September 2022. No matter how aggressive they are, it would still be at least seven years away. I was worrying needlessly.

As long as it’s not a Mars landing, what could be more impressive than a Moon landing?"

...

At Institute No. 5, Li Xi, as the CZ-5 Chief Designer, announced to the team one piece of good news and two pieces of bad news.

Bad news: The CZ-5 project is terminated, and the program cancelled;

Good news: The team will not be disbanded, and an additional 3 billion yuan of funding will be provided;

Bad news: They have to develop a new rocket, one that’s more troublesome than the CZ-5.

However, unexpectedly, the replacement for the CZ-5 wasn’t a rocket from New Yuan Aeronautics, a private company, but rather the CZ-10.

The CZ-10 has a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) lift capacity of 110 tons, which seems unrelated to the CZ-5’s 30 ton LEO lift capacity, but don’t forget, the CZ-10 is bundled with four boosters.

After deliberation, Institute No. 1 split the project into two variants, the CZ-10A and the CZ-10B:

CZ-10A: Reduces four boosters to two, with a lift-off thrust of 1956 tons, a lift-off mass of 1500 tons, LEO lift capacity of 70 tons, and lunar transfer orbit lift capacity of 27 tons;

CZ-10B: A ’bare stick’ variant with no boosters, just the two YF130 engines in the core stage, a lift-off thrust of 978 tons, a lift-off mass of 777 tons, and LEO lift capacity of 24 tons.

The lift capacity of the CZ-10B is close to that of the CZ-5, so the latter is no longer needed. Since neither is reusable, it makes sense to reduce one program.

The team must continue their work. Moreover, Li Xi is tasked with an important mission: to develop the new·CZ-5.

The Space Administration demanded the new CZ-5 use a 6-meter diameter rocket body, accommodate seven YF135 engines to produce a lift-off thrust of 2600 tons, a lift-off mass of 2000 tons, and a reusable heavy-lift rocket for LEO with a lift capacity of 60 tons;

The second stage engine will use the newly designed YF90, a 220-ton class staged-combustion cycle hydrogen-oxygen engine, with lunar orbit lift capacity reaching 24 tons.

At the same time, the new CZ-5’s CBC configuration was being developed, preliminarily named CZ-15. With 21 YF135 engines, a lift-off thrust of 7812 tons, lift-off mass of 5780 tons, LEO lift capacity would be increased to 185 tons, lunar transfer orbit lift capacity to 74 tons, intended to be the future’s cost-effective heavy-lift rocket and the main force for subsequent lunar surface construction, with a required first flight by 2020.

The CZ-5 ’bare stick’ version and the CZ-15, with CZ-5 CBC configuration, would be more than sufficient to replace the entire CZ-10 series—powerful yet cost-effective.

You have to understand, the old CZ-5 was sanctioned in 2009, with an estimated first flight in 2017—taking 8 years. The even more ambitious new CZ-5 hasn’t even seen its engines yet, and they’re demanding its first flight within 5 years...

The YF135 is a follow-up model of the YF130, already planned, with a single combustion chamber thrust of 360 tons, perfect for the engines of the future’s reusable mega-rockets.

The higher-ups are really desperate, greatly increasing investments—the Space Administration’s future will be a mix of joy and pain.