Chapter 72 - 70 Decree_1

According to international convention, rockets with Low Earth Orbit (LEO) capability of below 30 tons are usually called medium and small rockets, those between 30 and 50 tons are heavy rockets, and those above 100 tons are referred to as super heavy or giant rockets.

The success of New Yuan-2 marks China’s entry into the heavy rocket era, now capable of building large space stations and carrying out extensive unmanned deep space exploration missions.

This makes it the fourth political entity aside from America, Russia, and the European Union—and the world’s first private space company (Ma’s Heavy Falcon hasn’t launched yet)—to have this capability.

At the same time, in terms of reusability, fuel, and rocket size, New Yuan-2 has been unrivaled, setting multiple records.

The Rusia Space Agency and NACA are beating their chests in frustration, unable to understand how New Yuan-2’s chief designer and deputy chief designer slipped through their fingers and achieved such great success once they returned to China. It must be a systemic problem!

Next week’s "TIMES" has already revealed that it will feature Lin Ju on its cover and has already submitted a pre-order request.

Meanwhile, on the internet, Lin Ju has managed to make a name for himself as "Factory Manager Lin," swimming against the tide of criticism aimed at domestic manufacturers.

This naturally stems from Lin Ju’s prior identity as a tractor factory owner. The term "Factory Manager Lin" was initially a way for older employees to express familiarity, but now everyone calls him that.

Crown Prince Hamand also extended his congratulations to Lin Ju, mentioning that a handcrafted luxury sports car, which he has never driven, has been loaded onto a plane from Abe and will land on New Yuan’s soil in two days.

However, it was only here that Crown Prince Hamand discovered a serious issue: Lin Ju doesn’t even have his own estate!

Lin Ju has long resided in company housing. The system’s Level C base includes dormitories with single and double rooms. As the boss, Lin Ju alone enjoys the luxury of a small building.

Of course, another use for this place is to convene meetings with engineers, which is convenient and reassuring.

However, in Hamand’s eyes, Lin Ju is being excessively frugal, definitely pouring all his money into scientific research; if not for Lin Ju’s firm refusal, he would surely have purchased a villa in the local area to gift to him.

Lin Ju, of course, feels it’s completely unnecessary. Living alone and not in the habit of commanding servants, the company dormitory is already an excellent place to stay.

Loyal employees guard his safety, no one dares to disturb him, and he can see spacecraft being built at any time. Is there a more wonderful place than this?

As for the Crown Prince’s sports car, since it was shipped without prior notification, Lin Ju had no choice but to accept it, considering it a collectible work of art.

Don’t think that a handcrafted sports car that costs tens of millions of dollars is some kind of perfect machine; in reality, it’s extremely delicate. The engine might need major maintenance every thousand hours, its structure is fragile and troublesome to repair, and it requires a whole day of upkeep for every hour it’s driven—it truly is a toy for the wealthy.

Speaking of cars, Lin Ju brought out a stack of design blueprints.

Chen Jun found many concept designs with excellent potential for mass production from within South Automobile and sent them to Lin Ju for selection.

The reason for this was that Lin Ju thought of a common practice used by new brands in later generations: crowdfunding for car manufacturing.

That is, even before the car factory exists, they draft a plan, build a prototype, and then have customers pay a deposit in advance to reserve it. Only after receiving the money can the manufacturer afford to start mass production and eventually deliver the car.

The whole process can take as short as one year or as long as two years, or even indefinitely, with the founders sometimes absconding with the funds.

Yet even so, many people still pay up, which Lin Ju cannot understand. However, that doesn’t prevent him from doing the same.

He plans to choose a design that is creative and beautiful enough. Chen Jun guarantees that it would not take long to build an inoperative car shell—just a few days—and then they would use the allure of space to heavily promote New Yuan Automobile.

Then, riding on his own fame, he would crowdfund for car manufacturing. It’s not about the money, but rather about capturing customers right now.

It not only allowed Xin’an time to develop the Progress, but also enabled them to enter the automobile market with an air of superiority.

Isn’t that a clever strategy?

As for choosing what to design, it was quite simple—just lean towards the directions of future development. Lin Ju quickly picked out a design for a coupe with two rows of seats that had a streamlined aesthetic and a relatively complete concept design.

Nanfang Automobile also hoped to highlight their 2T luxury SUV prototype, a project they had abandoned but now had renewed hope for. This matched perfectly with the two unmanned launch missions of the H1 rocket.

Lin Ju agreed to it, treating it as a simulated weight without affecting the launch mission, and furthermore, the promotion for the sub-brand Xin’an would be free of charge; it was compensated by an increase in New Yuan’s shareholding. However, Nanfang Automobile’s new car would come with a separate fee, and a hefty one at that: a lump sum of 88 million.

This was indeed a significant expenditure. Although Nanfang Automobile’s profits had increased by over twenty percent that year, they had more expenses due to the size of their business, highlighting their level of commitment.

The first stage of the New Yuan No.2 Remote 1 rocket was now in the No. 2 assembly building at the Qiongzhou Launch Site, where engineers from New Yuan were evaluating it. If there were no quality defects due to the recovery, it wouldn’t need to return to the factory and could be made ready on site; by swapping in a new second stage, it would be ready to launch.

The shortest turnaround was 18 days, which was quite fast for a heavy rocket.

And on the seventh day after the launch, the New Yuan No.2 Remote 2 Rocket completed factory testing and was transported to New Yuan City Airport, ready to be transferred to the launch site.

The two rockets, New Yuan No.2 Remote 1 and Remote 2, would maintain a state of one launched and one ready to launch at any time, alternating usage to validate and prepare for manned flight.

Three days earlier, at Ulanha Mountain Airport, Progress had been hoisted and reinstalled atop Drawing 154.

She had already flown to New Yuan for a one-week inspection and would then be sent to the Qiongzhou Launch Site to embark on her first unmanned spaceflight on June 15th.

As for the second unit of H1, named Unity, it was still in the factory undergoing final installation and adjustment of its electrical equipment, standing by as a backup.

...

In Beijing, the space agency had a series of high-level meetings that lasted a week.

The issue at hand was what adjustments should be made to China’s future space engineering projects.

Given the strong technical capabilities of New Yuan Aeronautics, they could not be excluded from the plans, but questions remained about the extent of their involvement and their reliability.

As space is such a significant matter, no one dared to make decisions lightly. Therefore, in the end, two reports were written and submitted to the highest authorities.

One was an extensive and technical document for external viewers, and the other was a concise recommendation of fewer than 2000 words.

The authorities acted swiftly and trusting in the judgment of the seasoned space veterans, they provided direct advice: Should we involve private space enterprises? Yes, but it depends on their level of technology and reliability. Should we adjust the space plans? Yes, adjust them. If there are ways to speed up the process, why not? But do not be reckless, and strictly adhere to approvals. Additionally, the space agency can aim to catch up with advanced space sequences by combining domestic private enterprise technology with what is currently available globally.

Translated, this means: New Yuan Aeronautics has great momentum and can accelerate the space program; as for which components can be involved—make the call, since you are the responsible ones; also, strive to enhance your technology and stop falling behind. If you lack funds, submit a report.

For the space agency, this outcome was more than welcome; it was like receiving an imperial order, informing them that increased funding was permissible!

Does adjusting the space program cost money? Does catching up with the world’s advanced technology cost money? The higher-ups knew, yet they still gave permission, indicating that even the budget outside the year’s plan could be approved!

In the year 2015, China had already entered an era of rapid economic and technological growth, with funding no longer being the main limiting factor.