Chapter 683 - 664 SS-5

April 24, Qiongzhou, Wenchang Launch Site.

Nine months had passed since the CZ-10 rocket was once again positioned on the launch pad.

This launch was for the Dawn IV Spaceship, with the next Dawn V Spaceship expected to launch in July, after which the combination of Dawn Spaceship + CZ-10 would become discontinued.

Oleg Kononenko sat on the electric bus heading to the launch pad, his gaze unwavering as he looked over the entire Wenchang Launch Site.

It wasn’t much different from his memory, but what had changed significantly were the launch missions it now supported.

All four pads at the launch site were occupied: two with Xinyuan-2 Rockets carrying Tianwen-1 and Tianwen-2, one Xinyuan-2 rocket transporting an external liquid hydrogen fuel tank for Typhoon, and the CZ-10 he was about to board.

Over the next half-month, the Wenchang Launch Site was tasked with four major launches, and with the Typhoon at the adjacent Xinyuan Launch Site yet to be positioned, that amounted to five launches.

That meant all other launch pads were closed off, otherwise one would see rockets ready to launch at each pad.

It was a matter of the schedule being too hectic, causing the H1 series launch missions planned from mid-April to the end of May to be postponed, otherwise, there would have even been the incredible scenario of all national launch pads being fully occupied.

For the Dawn IV mission, the four astronauts all came from different countries: Mission Commander Meng Senlin, Deputy Commander Oleg Kononenko, French astronaut Thomas Speke, and Italian astronaut Giuseppe Chani, truly a United Nations lineup.

Giuseppe would undertake the orbital stay mission, while the other three would land and stay on the Moon for five days, slated to return on May 4th or 5th.

Aside from the Dawn IV Spaceship launching from Wenchang, the Roscosmos Plesetsk Cosmodrome was set to launch a Proton-M rocket and French Guiana was launching a bare-chassis VV-1 to deliver two cargo spacecraft, weighing 5 and 9 tons, to the Black Rabbit Space Station, carrying food supplies and scientific equipment for astronauts.

According to the latest revisions by the Huayin Organization, docking rights at the Black Rabbit Space Station were obtained through joint funding of 2.5 billion RMB in maintenance costs per year, with this landing requiring a payment of 850 million RMB for the maintenance and material expenses at the Yu Shu Base, else the disparity between the Dawn and Skylight missions would be far too great.

As the first cooperative exploration mission in name by the Huayin Organization, at least on the surface, the Dawn IV mission’s line-up seemed quite luxurious.

Especially since they could reside directly in the established Yu Shu Base, with fresh food, hot water, and rooms at their disposal, it hardly felt like a first-time Moon landing.

However, the rent was something the other three major countries begrudgingly accepted; they couldn’t have their own people crammed in the Full Moon lander, only to watch the brightly-lit Yu Shu Base from a few kilometers away, enjoying life.

In fact, the remaining six modules of the Yu Shu Base were all planned to be launched and assembled by July, and the Space Agency had proposed within the Huayin Organization to directly purchase pre-built modules, which were both safer and more cost-effective, though it didn’t go smoothly.

But these concerns were irrelevant to the astronauts of Skylight IV; for them, the only thing that mattered was setting foot on the Moon; everything else was for their countries to consider.

At 10 a.m., the CZ-10 rocket bearing the Dawn IV Spaceship took to the skies.

The Jingcheng Command Center was still bustling with people coming and going, but they had grown numb to the frequency of space launches and didn’t celebrate enthusiastically like the space agencies from the other countries that were connected live.

Zhong Cheng made a brief appearance at the monitoring site before hurrying off again. The intensive Mars exploration missions were scheduled to start in three days, with launch plans stacked up like bus schedules; even the Dawn IV only merited a brief consideration.

...

Gulf of Mexico, Boca Chica.

Sixteen hours after the launch of Dawn IV, the Starship SS-5 Combination was also ready to launch.

It had been exactly 11 months since the launch of the Starship SS-1, and in less than a year, SpaceX was set to launch its fifth colossal rocket with a liftoff thrust exceeding 6,000 tons, making Boeing’s SLS blush in comparison.

More than a year had passed since Musk proclaimed the ambitious slogan of "one launch per month," and although SpaceX hadn’t managed to launch once a month, they had guaranteed the production of at least one rocket per month, if not more.

The extra time was all spent on fixing defects and making modifications. With a dense launch schedule, the Starship was indeed making continuous progress.

For Tom Mueller, all the technical issues related to launching the Starship as one whole had been resolved. The first four launches had fully exposed all potential hazards, and he was confident that there were no more improvements to be made, leading to the plan for the SS-5 launch.

What if it failed again?

They would simply collect the issues and continue to improve. With NACA’s procurement infusing cash, even if five more SpaceX rockets exploded, the company could afford it.

However, unlike the original timeline, the Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory faced obstacles, and even with America’s manufacturing industry subsidies, the electric car business did not become Musk’s largest financial pillar.

Teslas in China were completely reliant on imports and had no competitive edge against domestic brands after heavy tariffs, as if they were being pinned down and hammered by Xin’an.

But the space business brought in a hefty profit, so much so that Tom felt like suggesting to Musk that he marginalize the electric car business. When looking at NACA’s huge space plans, just a sliver of those projects would be enough to grow SpaceX into a behemoth.

He looked at Musk, who was intently monitoring the rocket’s parameters:

"Elon, what do you think are our chances of success this time?"

"We’re always succeeding. It’s just moving from one stage of success to the next," Musk replied.

Musk’s answer fit his personality perfectly, making Tom smile:

"Then let me say this. SS-5 will successfully reach orbit, but it’s still a long way from carrying a payload."

"Tom, don’t you believe in rudder differential technology?"

"I do, but I don’t believe it can perform as you wish at speeds of over a dozen mach."

Tom’s greatest frustration was Musk’s insistence on cost-cutting measures, like the Starship spacecraft not having an attitude control system—RCS.

It wasn’t that they didn’t plan to equip it but rather that Musk wanted to try forgoing traditional RCS and rely solely on engine correction and four massive rudders to accomplish the necessary tasks.

This was a similar mindset as before when Musk launched the Starship with a bare steel shell, resulting in a dismal failure. Now, he hoped to use just half the heat-resistant tiles, resisting atmospheric ablation with only that side.

In these respects, the second stage of the Starship spacecraft was basically a steel shell with engines; it was heavy, vibrated intensely, could not undertake high-precision launch tasks, and was expected to only carry payloads up to 150 kilometers in low orbit. To go any further, it would need to propel itself.

Up to now, the Starship spacecraft had only reached about 30% of the completion level he had anticipated, far from being mission-ready.

Even if SS-5 achieved orbit this time, it didn’t mean it could start undertaking missions. The Starship was a massive undertaking, and even one-off launches were not easy to accomplish.

The biggest advantage was for the NSS. A one-off launch success would mean DARPA would invest heavily in nuclear propulsion modifications—that was the Pentagon’s darling, and they had endless funds to splurge.

Tom knew the "Apollo 5" nuclear engine prepared for the NSS nuclear-powered Starship was far behind the progress of A105. The sooner DARPA gave the green light, the earlier the Starship could be put into service.