Chapter 454 - 445 Secret Party_1

"No, no, none of them are acceptable!"

As a superpower, America of course had its own standards of operation, and John couldn’t feign ignorance and let the Aerospace Development Committee get away with doing nothing. However, their demands were too outrageous.

Not to mention, if satellite launch restrictions on sensitive components were lifted, opening the launch orders to them would mean losing over 30% of the business. Capitalism was ruthless and their competitive pricing was well known.

Docking rights for the survey ships? That was out of the question unless they allowed each other’s vessels to dock and inflict mutual harm.

The idea of establishing a Normalized Space Rescue Organization did intrigue John, though; he sensed some room for maneuver and felt they could discuss it to a limited extent.

But this was unlikely to satisfy their appetite.

John thought for a moment:

"What if I lift some trade restrictions? High-end server chips, and some other advanced equipment, we could sell to them in a limited manner."

Kelly replied, "To be honest, the chip situation is not looking optimistic... Our software manufacturers have already started to adapt for the XOS system, and after Intel and Qualcomm reached a partial patent exchange agreement earlier this year, they have been aggressively moving into ternary computing. Our restrictions will only become less effective over time. Now they are also launching ’Star Chain,’ called Lingxi satellites, which are said to use mass-produced ternary chips;

As for equipment... they might need photolithography machines. Modu City Microelectronics just announced mastery of 22nm technology this year, which still lags far behind us."

"Then it’s settled, we’ll discuss the items you mentioned. Reply to them tomorrow. Damn it, I need to sleep; NACA totally ruined my day."

"Sir, Claire has already submitted her resignation to Congress."

"Resignation? She can’t resign until this matter is settled. All of this is due to her rash actions!"

...

While NACA was striving to identify the cause of the accident, John was looking for someone to blame, but there were also true elites discussing a way forward.

Just outside Washington, in a villa in the suburbs, National Security Advisor McMaster, dressed in casual wear, drove up to the villa, where seven or eight cars were already parked.

The door was unlocked, and aside from seven or eight casually dressed individuals, one could see takeout food and drinks inside, as if it were a very ordinary weekend gathering of friends.

"You’re late, Herbert; close the door behind you."

A man in a shirt was sitting on an armchair, drinking whiskey; he was Major General Kerry, the Air Force’s rising star.

The boss might change every four years, but that doesn’t mean that the protagonists of politics do as well. In fact, it is the hereditary senators and the low-profile middle management who, relying on control that often lasts for decades, are the real puppet masters of this land.

Behind them is the enterprise, and behind the enterprise is Wall Street, they stood at the pinnacle, influencing everything.

Every change of boss was just an expression of Wall Street’s demands—occasionally there might be some surprises, but soon enough other surprises would come along to remedy those.

The people had all arrived and now waited for the main character of the meeting: Jack Sullivan.

Sullivan was a current think tank member, and in the outside world, he was known for his opposition to John.

"I’m here because I hope all of you can unite and solve our common difficulties,"

Sullivan looked around at the people present, not many, but collectively they had enough influence.

"I must admit that there’s been a shift in the situation. In the past, we overlooked manufacturing, thinking we could control the world with finance and cutting-edge technology, but now it seems we have some problems. Based on repeated studies by think tanks, we’ve confirmed that the homeland needs to restore a strong manufacturing sector to return to its peak."

McMaster: "That won’t be easy; I didn’t expect you to become a supporter of John that quickly."

"No, it’s not that. It’s the situation that has changed faster than we could have imagined, and past experiences are no longer applicable."

Sullivan pointed to the sky: "Progress in space technology has been much faster than we imagined, especially reusable rockets, which have changed everything. I’ve done serious research, and SpaceX’s launch costs are dozens of times lower than those of traditional space enterprises.

That strategic deception from last century’s Star Wars program could actually become a reality with cheap launch prices, just as if Saturn V could be reused, we wouldn’t have cut the subsequent moon landing plans. The Aerospace Development Committee is actually making progress on its own in this area.

We must vigorously support any enterprise that develops reusable rockets and enhance manufacturing capabilities to reduce costs. The SLS is too expensive, and it simply can’t compete."

Kerry: "I think you have more to say."

Sullivan: "Yes, they now dominate space, don’t they? Nuclear-powered spacecraft, space stations five times larger than the International Space Station, and an ever-increasing number of satellites, we’re facing unprecedented challenges.

If I have to make a comparison, it’s like April 12th, 1961, when the Union sent Gagarin into space and we were left with nothing, both our status and security are shaking."

The others pondered, realizing that the situation really seemed to be like this: the strategic situation had undergone a dramatic change in just two years, and it was only the Artemis Project that had exposed these disadvantages.

Sullivan: "I, along with many others — the people you would guess — believe that it is now essential, just like the Apollo and Star Wars programs, to once again use a huge national effort to comprehensively raise our level of technology and overtake them, just as we once overtook the Union."

"I get it, it’s the God of War Ares Project, we’re going to land on Mars?"

McMaster caught on; surpassing the moon landing meant only one thing — Mars landing.

"Yes, but there’s more." Sullivan nodded and then shook his head, adding:

"The Star Wars program must also be restarted. We will have to deploy nuclear flyers in space by the hundreds of tons, even thousands, and beyond this is suppression, limiting their manufacturing industry from continuing to plunder capital and money from the world.

We must re-subsidize our homeland’s manufacturing industry enormously, take back those lost markets, and save the unemployed workers. Once we get through the initial investment, we can rely on the protected markets to recover the industry, in all aspects."

After hearing Sullivan’s words, the others looked at each other and quickly understood the implication: money.

Landing on Mars, a Star Wars program, and bringing manufacturing back all required unimaginably large sums of subsidies, hundreds of billions wouldn’t be enough; it would take a long-term investment of several trillion US Dollars to see effects.

This would indeed strengthen the manufacturing industry and re-establish space superiority, and it could solve many social issues such as unemployment; but it also meant that we might be facing a crazy fiscal deficit, much like last century.

In fact, by the end of the 80s, both sides of the Cold War were exhausted, and America’s prosperity from the 90s to the 2010s was entirely reliant on consuming the benefits from their opponent’s downfall; dragging it out further, the outcome was really uncertain.

Sullivan: "We’ve already convinced most of the members of Congress. You need to immediately make recommendations to John; Yankee is facing its most dangerous historical moment."