Chapter 395 - 386 Helping Hand_1

"90 tons, 90 tons, 110 tons, 110 tons."

Claire counted the payloads launched from Qiongzhou over the past four days on her fingers, then waved her four fingers in front of a group of people.

"If we could also send such a mass into space in such a short time, we could land on the Moon next week."

This was the headquarters of NACA, now gathering more than a dozen strong space enterprises ranging from the veteran Boeing-ROM to Sky Fork-Blue Origin.

New Yuan had launched large rockets for four consecutive days; Claire had been berated by congressmen for four days straight, and was only spared from dismissal by the president’s support.

The former had unleashed half a month’s worth of production capacity in one go, showing off a terrifying force that petrified seasoned aerospace veterans.

Claire, under high pressure for a week, swiftly convened the enterprises participating in the Artemis program to take stock of their assets and see if they could further accelerate the runaway Artemis II.

The representative from Boeing was the first to raise a hand, "As of now, the second SLS core stage has been completed, but it still needs substantial time for inspections. We can guarantee it being launch-ready by mid-July at the earliest."

An engineer from Lockheed followed closely, "We have plenty of Orion spacecrafts; you all know that."

The representative from SpaceX was Tom Mueller himself, who was also confident:

"We have seven Falcon 9 rockets, and one reinforced core stage needed for Heavy Falcon has been manufactured, with the next one able to be finished within a month. Thus, SpaceX can provide two launches of the Heavy Falcon Rocket."

At the onset of the Artemis program, the Heavy Falcon was still a concept. Even though the CBC configuration wasn’t innovative, its reliability was high. At that time, many doubted the reliability of 27 engines, so the inclusion of the Heavy Falcon Rocket in the program was merely a stopgap measure.

But by now, the Heavy Falcon had launched three times, clearly proving its reliability.

Claire turned her gaze towards the representative from Blue Origin.

"Well, the ’Blue Moon’ lander is progressing nicely, the first one can be delivered by June. But it has changed too much from its original design. We better have two months to verify its reliability."

"Believe in the advancement of computers!" Claire interrupted, Blue Origin wasn’t as competitive as SpaceX but was the second-largest aerospace firm supported by NACA.

"’Blue Moon’ requires one Heavy Falcon or an SLS, and as much fuel. What about your New Glenn Rocket? The BE4 engine has already passed its tests!"

Having prodded the reluctant Blue Origin, Claire returned to the main point:

"That means, at the earliest, we can meet all the conditions required for a lunar landing by the end of July, which should be slightly ahead of the Chinese CZ-10, but not by much.

Gentlemen, what I’m saying is we’re too slow. We need to have super rockets that can be produced within four months, preferably reusable ones. We also must be able to launch 500 tons of payload into space within four days!"

The solid wooden table shook under the banging of Claire’s hand, while the Boeing representative bowed his head as if nothing had happened.

Boeing had no reusable rocket program, and the SLS’s budget was already causing dissatisfaction. Speeding things up would certainly mean additional investments, which equated to self-inflicted trouble.

Among the more than a dozen enterprises present, only Blue Origin’s New Glenn, SpaceX’s Heavy Falcon, and the yet unflown Starship Spacecraft met these conditions.

Tom Mueller: "The B6 booster and the SN12 are ready to go, according to the plan... they’ll launch tomorrow."

Claire: "Have you completed all the project testing?"

Tom: "For now, we’ve completed them. You know our approach, so it might not go very smoothly..."

Claire nodded. Why is the production of conventional rockets slow? Because each new type isn’t just a simple combination of core and engines; they need extensive, long-term testing, a phase that typically takes up about two-thirds of the schedule.

SpaceX’s method of replacing testing with launches wasn’t initially accepted, but with the success of the Falcon 9, no one criticized it anymore.

To the veteran defence industry present, however, the Starship was an outright monster. Made of roughly crafted steel, with 33 unprotected engines closely packed, it was every aerospace engineer’s nightmare.

The memory of the N1 rocket exploding four times was still fresh, and most of the attendees didn’t even think the B6 had more technical content than the N1.

...

"SpaceX will conduct the Starship-Super Heavy booster combination test on May 28, designated B6+SN12."

"With 33 Raptor V1 engines, Starship will become the rocket with the highest number of engines."

"The Dream Chaser B1 spaceplane has completed its first unmanned launch after a three-month grounding and will resume the next crewed launch mission."

"The Veneto 1 rocket body has been completed. The European Space Agency expects it to complete its maiden flight within this year."

"..."

ESA’s Veneto rocket progressed from providing engines and technical support in February to finally completing the new 5.2-meter diameter rocket body. Although far from a complete rocket, it has greatly excited everyone at ESA.

For the scattered European nations, this speed was remarkably fast, yet still much slower than the leading players.

"Mr. Lin, the Starship is about to launch!"

"I know, no need to shout so loud."

Lin Ju, with a grimaced expression, watched Chen Jun hustling and bustling around, greeting others. Memories once faded returned sharply as the stainless steel base color of the Starship Spacecraft was so vivid.

Xin’an Automobile—under his management, it had vigorously developed; it had just recently delivered its millionth car, which was already an astonishing figure since their products tended to be mid to high-end.

If the base were to distribute dividends this year, it could amount to tens of billions.

Chen Jun came today not only to pay respects to his boss but also as a supplicant.

"Mr. Lin, our battery technology has plateaued. Can you give us the new 600wh power battery?"

"No way, absolutely not," Lin Ju shook his head firmly. Xin’an’s battery strategy was to purchase external standard 21700 cells for assembly, which was adequate for the next seven or eight years’ requirements.

BYD’s lithium iron phosphate batteries were only 140wh/kg, after all; releasing the base’s would be overkill and was unnecessary.

Seeing Lin Ju’s resolute attitude, Chen Jun didn’t insist. He merely sat there, heaving sighs of discontent, lamenting about pressure from the base’s dividends, high R&D costs, and so forth. Lin Ju had no choice but to say:

"These power batteries can’t enter the market yet, but we can offer other technical supports. Autonomous driving? Or flying cars? We can provide more support for these projects."

Chen Jun: "What about the second-generation robot?"

"..."

"No."