Chapter 525 - 514 Cheap Space Travel_1

"How’s the test going?"

At B-level Base, Xie Liaofu jumped down from the hatch of the Cloud Ascend Project No.1 Machine and inquired about the condition of the Qiongzhou sea-launched sounding rocket.

"Very good, just clean the engine pipelines with high-pressure steam, and there’s no damage to the missile body at all. What we’re checking now is whether any hidden problems were caused during the transport."

Minister Guo, however, requested to modify the interstage separator to leave more space."

Launching rockets from water is not uncommon after all, as submarine-launched missiles are just that.

Seawater’s corrosion on engines and missile bodies is actually negligible. After all, the energy rocket that was crushed by snow at Baikonur hasn’t rusted over the years; it only requires slight improvements in some minor areas.

As for engines, there’s even less to say. They can withstand the intense corrosion of liquid hydrogen and high-temperature conditions, so what’s a little seawater?

Therefore, there shouldn’t be any issues with the test, any would be abnormal.

"Good, urge the auxiliary systems department to speed up the preparation of the supporting facilities. We must have a rehearsal before the official launch. Rocket No. 4 is so expensive; any bumps or damages would be troublesome to repair."

Xie Liaofu was quite confident in New Yuan No. 4, this super rocket was essentially manufactured entirely by the base, ensuring reliable design and production. His only concern was the transportation and the launch system, as other manufacturers were too prone to slip-ups.

Take, for instance, the Cloud Ascend No. 1 prototype; on the night of September 17, it underwent its first ground taxiing test and immediately encountered issues.

Fortunately, it was just a minor nuisance with the pipelines, but Xie Liaofu still immediately ordered a comprehensive inspection by experts from the base and supporting design institutes, working overtime for twelve days to complete several static tests.

The initial plan to conduct the first flight on September 25 had to be postponed. Tomorrow is September 30, the last day before the National Day, the final chance for a first flight.

Now it was already 20:00, but Xie Liaofu looked at the chief designers and researchers present, waved his hand, and shouted loudly:

"Let’s call it a day, tomorrow we fly!"

Standing under the vast wing of Cloud Ascend and personally inspecting the thermal insulation with a flashlight was Zeng Hongwei, who, hearing this, packed away his flashlight and slowly climbed down from the mobile staircase.

Cloud Ascend is indeed a massive beast, with a body height exceeding 5.8 meters, requiring a staircase for ground maintenance, and constantly looking up was quite uncomfortable.

Zeng Hongwei stretched his neck, walked over to Xie Liaofu’s side, and then cast his gaze onto the body of Cloud Ascend:

"Mr. Xie, going into orbit on the first flight? Isn’t that too risky?"

Xie Liaofu replied, "It’s all the same; don’t think of it as a plane. This is a spacecraft, and its reliability requirements and design process are different from those of planes. We need to have confidence in our rocket.

Look, how hard are our test pilots... astronauts working?"

Following his pointed finger, one could see the lit cockpit of Cloud Ascend, where the four astronauts were conducting their final simulation, two of which were flight engineers.

The theoretical limit of the flight interval for H1 is 7 to 10 days, at least 15 days for H2, but the designed interval time for Cloud Ascend is — 2 hours.

Theoretically, Cloud Ascend doesn’t even require maintenance after landing, and can be refueled to return to space. After 15 round-trips through the atmosphere, it requires a 24-hour maintenance and inspection. Following 60 launches and landings, it must be returned to the factory for a 3-day mid-term maintenance, and after every 240 flights, a regular inspection and mandatory overhaul are necessary.

As for its launch and landing lifespan?

times, and this can be extended depending on the condition of the craft.

The factory price of each Cloud Ascend is 3.8 billion RMB. Including the cost of 900,000 RMB for fuel for a single mission and other expenses, the cost per flight comes down to 4.7 million RMB over a lifespan of 1000 flights. It can carry 22 passengers including two pilots, which comes out to slightly over 200,000 RMB per person.

If we don’t consider the cost, it’s even cheaper, costing only 40,900 RMB to send one person. If an astronaut doesn’t perform an extravehicular activity, the cost of sending a single astronaut into space can definitely be kept under 100,000 RMB, which is amazingly cheap.

This is largely thanks to Cloud Ascend’s insistence on using suboptimal liquid oxygen-methane fuel for an SSTO, which only costs a little over 400,000 RMB to refuel. Liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen don’t come at this bargain.

tons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen fuel costs about 2.1 million RMB, which is not too expensive, but the transportation and storage costs absolutely cannot be ignored, and zero-evaporation storage tanks are considerably costly!

This is definitely a landmark product in the history of space exploration. If the New Yuan No. 4 rocket represents the pinnacle of chemical engine brute force, then Cloud Ascend squeezes out the last bit of potential from chemical fuels at the technical level.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the emergence of Cloud Ascend is akin to the launching of a dreadnought, directly consigning all previous orbital spacecraft to the scrapheap and symbolizing the end of an era.

And although the beginning of the next era is still brewing at Qingshan Base, they are also striving to push the limits of fission technology.

Xie Liaofu is currently personally overseeing the Cloud Ascend, New Yuan No. 4, and XN90 space projects! In his eyes, Cloud Ascend really can only be ranked secondarily and does not warrant as much cautious attention.

Although this attitude may seem slightly arrogant, Zeng Hongwei has come to admire it even more. During their time working together, he has fully witnessed the incredibly high efficiency and reliability of Xinyuan Company; they have grown accustomed to "rushing forward."

"Alright, I’ll go check the landing gear again."

Zeng Hongwei turned to find the inspection manual, continuing to groom the feathers of this dream-like super aircraft before its soaring flight.

...

The final assembly hangar was open just wide enough for trucks to enter, but it seemed narrow compared to its massive volume. One could only appreciate its enormity up close, understanding why giant rockets and airplanes are born here.

Lin Ju parked the factory’s driverless electric vehicle, resembling a golf cart, outside the hangar door, got out, and stood at the edge, half his body exposed, admiring the Cloud Ascend parked inside.

The assistant he had kicked a few days ago quietly stepped beside him. Looking at the brightly lit hangar from here reminded her of an essay called "Story of the Peach Blossom Spring." The thick hangar doors isolated the outside night, and the lighting inside never went out, representing an eternal daytime. It was a broad yet narrow, crowded yet spacious independent world that was open and yet closed off.

For those in the aerospace and aviation fields, it must really be like the Peach Blossom Spring, right?

She shared her thoughts with Lin Ju, and he tried hard to imagine the scene, indeed sensing some of that somewhat surreal romance.

Lin Ju now understood how vast the difference was between male and female thoughts. When they were building the An-1250 behemoth, he and Androff had once stood here. The latter spread his arms and bellowed, "I want to create something big enough to fill this place!"

That rough and bold spirit was very exciting, but there is a unique charm to passive, detailed experiences as well.