Chapter 471 - 462: New Star_1

Although John stated that he would go all out to carry out the God of War Ares program, it did not mean that the Artemis program would be terminated.

On the contrary, the Artemis program would also build a base on the Moon and have subsequent multiple landing missions to maintain a constant astronaut presence.

To carry out Mars exploration while maintaining a high frequency of Moon missions undoubtedly required a considerable number of giant rocket launches, and they had to be cheaper.

The SLS, with a launch price exceeding 4 billion US dollars, definitely wouldn’t work, not to mention the current Block1 version, even the 140-ton capacity Block2 wouldn’t suffice, as just these giant rockets would deplete the entire budget.

In this situation, Robert reorganized the bidding, demanding a new rocket capable of replacing the SLS, and the cost had to align with the publicly announced launch price of the New Yuan-2A by XAP: 500 million US dollars.

One of his first acts after taking office was to scrap the SLS; after launching the third one, they would no longer be produced.

Although he knew there would be considerable resistance, he was determined to do so and had already received support from Jack Sullivan and John. America simply didn’t have the capacity to launch such expensive toys on a large scale.

This time, besides SpaceX predictably presenting the Starship, Lockheed also put forward a two-stage reusable rocket to rival the Starship.

"New Star, we’ve decided to use New Star to carry out this task. It’s not only fully reusable, but its cost is also very low," they said.

When Robert got the data on the "New Star" rocket, he immediately felt a sense of déjà vu: wasn’t this the NOVA proposal that competed with the Saturn V back in the day!

During the Apollo program, Von Braun presented two types of rockets based on different mission needs, one with five F1 engines and the other with eight F1 engines. Ultimately, after considering the cost and difficulty, NACA chose the former, which became the Saturn V, while the latter, the "NOVA," was not selected.

Lockheed dug up this old proposal from who knows where and gave it a magic modification:

First was the first-stage design. Since it needed to be recoverable and the deadweight increased, they expanded the diameter to 14 meters and added a centrally located F1R engine that could throttle deeply. The total thrust reached a massive 6120 tons, and, when fueled, it weighed 3800 tons;

They then discarded the original complicated and unreliable five-stage design, replacing it with a large second-stage with controllable wings, similar to the Starship Spacecraft. With a diameter of 10.4 meters and a wingspan of 21 meters, it used five Rockdain engines based on the RS68, improved to burn methane as RS75, with a thrust of 750,000 pounds each. The core stage could throttle deeply, was recoverable by landing on water, and had a total thrust of 1650 tons. When fueled, its mass was 1200 tons.

The first stage was called "Saturn VII" to commemorate its origin, and the second stage was named "New Star." It could deliver a payload of 170 tons to low Earth orbit during recovery, and carry a payload of 35 tons to the Moon.

After a comprehensive assessment, Lockheed estimated that the cost of launching the New Star rocket would be around 450 million US dollars. The upper stage could carry both people and supplies. As an OSS vehicle, it could also easily refuel the "Gateway."

The engineers who designed it believed that, although similar to the Starship in configuration, the "New Star" required only nine mature and reliable F1R engines. Rockdain’s reusable F1 design simplified 30% of the structure and significantly reduced cost, and it would not fail in mid-mission due to an excessive number of engines, as the Starship Booster might.

Additionally, when landing at sea, the New Star spacecraft would first decelerate vertically, then land at a slight angle on the water’s surface. This used less fuel for recovery and had a higher tolerance for errors.

In Robert’s view, the entire "New Star" proposal still had many highlights, especially the reduced number of engines, as the Starship’s launch in May really raised concerns about the reliability of multiple parallel stages.

It seemed that the old military-industrial complex still had some tricks up its sleeve!

With the first stage using kerosene and the second stage methane, it indeed looked like it wouldn’t be expensive.

Like the SLS, "New Star" had the advantage of spreading the wealth. Unlike "Starship," which was almost wholly covered by SpaceX, "New Star’s" main body was planned to be provided by Boeing, with the engines coming from the mature and reliable Rockdain. Lockheed was responsible for systems engineering and the crew capsule. Raytheon Company would handle the electronics and control equipment. Everything was well arranged, combining the strengths of all companies involved.

But he couldn’t help recalling Claire’s admonition before leaving office: to support the more efficient and cheaper SpaceX, suppressing the old-guard military-industrial complex.

Considering all factors, "New Star" was more tempting, but "Starship" had already entered actual launch testing, which made it a tough decision.

However, he soon knew how to make the decision.

...

Presidential Palace.

"We have to increase taxes," Jack Sullivan said firmly, swinging his fist, which caused John to subconsciously shrink his neck.

"With increased spending comes the necessity to bolster revenue, taxes, taxes are the foundation of America!

The easing of bank policies cannot replace substantial fiscal planning, raising taxes on the wealthy is not only a good way to generate revenue and balance social classes, it also strengthens the power in our hands through this measure!"

"But..."

John, momentarily forgetting that he too was a wealthy man, asked worriedly:

"Levying excessively high taxes might cause some instability, you know."

Sullivan, of course, knew what he was afraid of, but simply shook his head contemptuously:

"Sir, politics is but a loose alliance of hostile tribes, and indeed, increasing taxes on the rich will offend many, but officials high and low will strongly support your decision. With the help of God of War Ares and the Industrial Return Plan, all you need to do is give the word, and scores will rush forward to fight."

However, after saying this, he changed his tone, his expression growing more serious:

"Of course, if you just do that, you’ll invite vehement opposition, so appeasement is also necessary."

John quickly asked, "What kind of appeasement?"

"Subsidizing automotive giants is appeasement, as are the God of War Ares and the Artemis projects, from which you must carve out sufficient benefits. The automotive, pharmaceutical, and aerospace industries are your main targets. Offer them some benefits through these projects, then apply some pressure, and they will compromise.

"The truly purely supported entities are only the small and medium-sized businesses, which naturally will support your re-election wholeheartedly if you give them opportunities."

Clap, clap.

John couldn’t help but start to applaud. The new staff member, though not as likable as Pio, was more worthy of heavy responsibility.

But before he could offer praise, Sullivan began to sour his mood:

"Sir, it’s not a good idea to take action against the military."

"Why bring this up now?"

The task force established to investigate logistics at overseas bases was ready to depart, and John was very confident he’d be able to catch certain individuals red-handed.

From last year’s accounts alone, he had spotted many clues: 1.4 million for a black goat airlifted on a transport plane, a $1000 coffee cup, and why were electric breast pumps on the procurement list?

Seeing that John was displeased, Sullivan did not continue. He left with a parting "You’ll understand," and withdrew.