Chapter 254 - 248 Yenisei_1

It turned out that TikTok was indeed the software that rapidly expanded and flourished the mobile internet, spreading almost like a virus.

Although the prices of the Meridian satellite network were generally much more expensive than broadband, within 24 hours, 270,000 sets were still sold, about 65% of which were the cheapest 50Mbps networks.

At the same time, Xinyuan Company’s official online channel also supported foreign users placing orders.

However, the price for foreign users was much more expensive. What cost 1699 RMB for a year’s subscription to the 100Mbps network receiver in China was priced at 899 US Dollars abroad, almost triple the price.

Besides the hefty charges for fewer satellites, if it was in America, due to tariff policies, users had to pay additional taxes. In normal cases, this might amount to a few hundred US Dollars, but if America initiated punitive tariffs, it could even reach 2000 Dollars.

But the first American user, who might also be the first foreign user, should have already set up their antenna.

On the morning of the 23rd, American time, Ma arrived by plane with a Supreme Commemorative edition of the Meridian Satellite Network (5000Mbps) antenna.

This was a purely internal custom-designed antenna, not for sale externally. With a 5Gbps downlink speed and a 2Gbps uplink speed, it would be sufficient for a decade.

The antenna was 27 inches in size, with a huge XAP logo emblazoned on the front. Lin Ju had promised a lifetime of free service.

Ma downloaded the app on his own phone, then first connected to the antenna’s local area network, activating the antenna’s search mode on the open ground.

The huge flat antenna began to rotate 360 degrees, stopping in one direction after a full rotation, then adjusting its elevation angle. The phone prompted that the Wi-Fi was now connected to the internet.

He opened TikTok, and the first video loaded smoothly. The flash of network speed in the status bar showed 9MB/s.

He ventured to download an app from Google, and the progress bar stalled for only a second. The app, over 60MB in size, was downloaded quickly.

Clearly, the bottleneck was not the network speed.

Musk looked up into the sky following the antenna’s elevation angle, knowing that there were one or more satellites speeding across the sky at dozens of times the speed of sound.

As the Meridian satellite network was already put into practical use, Star Chain could not be delayed any longer.

...

Lin Ju’s interaction with Ma was not very long, only a few hours, but he did indeed earn Lin Ju’s respect.

Ma Yilong was unpretentious and highly pragmatic. Lin Ju treated him with Xinyuan Company’s casual style, which the former found really enjoyable.

Ma had seen plenty of serious occasions, especially during the negotiations for the Tesla superfactory in Modu City, which were highly stressful.

Ma said that being with the people from Xinyuan felt like he was back at Space X, and his demeanor was very relaxed.

Neither delved into deep topics, but Ma took many photos of rockets and the Progress spacecraft and even selfies to post on Twitter. Lin Ju followed and liked them directly.

Ma’s visit to China did not diminish the competitive atmosphere across the Pacific.

On the contrary, on September 21, NACA conducted a ground static fire test of the SLS.

Two five-segment SRB boosters had already been delivered to Kennedy Space Center, and the launch pad modification work was nearing completion, in preparation for the first flight of the SLS.

The Orion spacecraft service module, transported from Europe, has also been delivered to the Lockheed Martin factory, where it will soon be assembled.

Northrop Grumman announced that the manufacture of the HALO living module for the Lunar Gateway space station, which they had contracted to build, was more than halfway completed. It was expected to be finished in January and scheduled to launch aboard a Heavy Falcon Rocket in February 2017.

Debates in Europe surrounding the Veneto 1 rocket were still ongoing, with representatives from the 11 member states of the European Space Agency arguing from dawn until dusk every day, each holding different opinions.

However, driven by Italy and France, the desire for the European Space Agency to independently carry out space programs was on the rise, especially with the potential promise of Veneto 1.

France was planning to revive the Hermes spacecraft, a relic of the Cold War era, aiming to use it both as a tool for trips to low Earth orbit and for lunar landings.

The Hermes spacecraft was a symbol of France’s ambition for an independent space system during the Cold War. The project was canceled following the collapse of the Union, due to decreased pressure, but now it had been put back on the agenda.

Now that China, America, and Russia were all developing space shuttles, could Europe afford not to keep up? Absolutely not.

On the other hand, the UK, as always, showed an indifferent attitude, maintaining a very zen outlook; they would simply side with whichever power was strongest.

But overall, the UK still supported the European Space Agency because there were signs that old Russia was struggling.

It was now 2016, and Russia was showing signs of an economic resurgence. In addition to cooperating with China, they had genuinely begun preliminary studies for their own lunar rocket, the Yenisei.

Six boosters and six RD171MV engines for the core stage, with one RD180 engine providing a total thrust of 5,400 tons and a maximum LEO payload capacity of 150 tons.

This was also a lunar rocket, but with little confidence, Russia had vaguely set a "trial flight around 2020".

Though its payload capacity was on par with giants like the SLS, CZ-10, and New Yuan-2A, the interesting thing about the Yenisei super-heavy rocket was that both its core stage and booster diameters were only 4.1 meters, making it the smallest-diameter giant rocket.

The reason was simple: to accommodate the outdated railway transportation system, Russia still used the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for most space launches, which could only be reached by rail.

Although the N1 rocket with a maximum diameter of 17 meters was launched from Baikonur in the last century, Russia now found it difficult to achieve that kind of transfer capability. Moreover, transporting large-diameter rockets by rail has a fatal flaw:

The rockets must be transported in sections and assembled at the launch site, which greatly increases the likelihood of issues due to the rocket’s complex internal structure, as the conditions at the launch site are far from as favorable as those at the production plant.

The N1 rocket’s frequent issues were not unrelated to this factor; it was assembled at the launch site and then erected as a whole. Compared to vertical assembly, this process was not only troublesome, but also prone to hidden dangers during erection.

To reduce workload and the risk of launch failure, the Rusia Space Agency chose a 4.1-meter diameter for the rocket body, the largest diameter that their railways could accommodate for whole transport. When the time came, the assembly would only involve relatively simple joining of the boosters and the core stage.

Russia was concurrently preparing the new-generation "Eagle" manned spacecraft for the lunar mission, which, like the Orion spacecraft and the new generation of manned spacecraft, had a weight class and maximum crew capacity of around 20 tons.

So far, the Russian aerospace budget for the entire rocket and spacecraft project was 20 billion Rubles, which is... $28 million or 190 million RMB.

This amount was the lowest among the countries involved; even a minor project within the European Space Agency cost far more, no wonder the Rusia Space Agency was vague about publishing specific dates for their lunar exploration.

With that money, they wouldn’t be able to build rockets, let alone two RD171 engines.

Contrastingly, India had amended their Gagan Yang plan, aiming to send two Indian astronauts into space in 2017, build a space station in 2019, and land on the Moon in 2020.

The budget for the Gagan Yang plan this year alone was $1.7 billion, which is 120 billion Rubles, and now Russia was figuring out how to siphon off this sum from India.