Chapter 97 - 94 Epilogue_1

The scene suddenly became very comical, but the space agency big shot was as steady as Mount Tai, having long anticipated Badis’s neophyte actions.

As a fence-sitter in the national team and a shame of the great powers with a level of will determination comparable to tender tofu, Italy had thought about cooperating with China in the space field for a long time, but there had been no substantial progress.

If they could use Italy as a breakthrough to get a foothold on the International Space Station, it would be a good choice and could greatly strengthen relations with Europe.

After Badis finished speaking and a minute passed, the representative of France’s Space Agency at European Space Agency also spoke:

"It took over ten years for the ISS to be completed, and now it’s in a period of high-frequency use with many cargo and manned missions, which puts great pressure on Russia. I think introducing more players into the mix can significantly enhance the operational efficiency of the International Space Station.

It’s wrong for some countries to harbor an attitude of exclusivity and discrimination. The idea of the ISS is about inclusiveness and sharing."

At Qiongzhou Launch Control Center, standing beside Lin Ju, the JAXA Space Station official who came with his wife Keimei Arii, softly said:

"Lin-san, if you’re willing to sell one or two H1 spacecraft to JAXA, we will fully support New Yuan’s participation in the ISS."

Lin Ju: Smiles.

Ignoring the temptation from JAXA, Lin Ju said during the connection:

"New Yuan Aeronautics is driven by the mission of human exploration in space, and we are very interested in cooperating with the International Space Station. If there is a need for us to undertake some launch missions, we’ll certainly do our utmost to contribute more to humanity’s journey into space."

Montal: Stop, stop it, let’s adjourn.

The hastily established Contact Commander was dismissed in less than two hours, and although the rescue mission had ended, this affair wasn’t over yet; NACA’s attempt to downplay it wouldn’t fade away easily.

Too many people wanted to exploit this incident, and they wouldn’t stop until they got the results they desired. Lin Ju could afford to wait, as ISS was already organizing the accident investigation team to begin the follow-up work.

The space agency was clear about Lin Ju’s purpose, but they no longer insisted on participating in the ISS.

By then, China had a draft for its space station project. Compared to the old and outworn ISS, building their own was obviously more attractive; it was merely an attitude of hitting whether there were jujubes or not, just to give America some trouble.

At 3:30 pm, Unity began to decelerate, preparing to enter the Earth’s atmosphere.

At 4:40 pm, under the control of Deng Lei, Unity perfectly landed on the runway at the New Yuan Launch Site.

The six astronauts were unharmed and walked down from the spacecraft themselves. The pictures taken by the pre-arranged journalists showed relaxed expressions on every face.

More media were waiting for interviews at the launch center, and they had already obtained quite a lot of material beforehand from the space agency and Lin Ju.

Factory Manager Lin’s reputation made significant strides. He had to leave among the team of the space agency due to the reporters’ enthusiasm, but still, he was forced to speak quite a few platitudes. The space agency big shot, on the other hand, managed with ease, successfully wasting the reporters’ time without revealing any news.

In the temporarily freed-up resting room, the six astronauts saw Lin Ju and the big shot walking in, alongside Captain Li.

Zhang Zhiguang and Li Sheng immediately saluted, Deng Lei was a beat slow but quickly followed suit. Li Sheng reported seriously to Captain Li:

"Reporting to the squadron leader, the Unity crew has successfully completed the rescue mission and safely returned to the ground. Please give your instructions!"

"Well done. You’ve lived up to the expectations of the organization and the people. Good work."

Li Wei gave his thanks and then stepped aside to make room for Lin Ju and the senior astronaut. Not just the three of them but the rescued Union crew members too separated from their embracing families and stood up.

To the true orchestrator of the rescue mission, the Union crew expressed profound gratitude to Lin Ju, babbling at length in appreciation, their words overwhelming the translator’s voice.

After a series of handshakes, Lin Ju finally found time to pay attention to his own Unity crew.

The big shot and Captain Li were serving the three with inspirational talks, assuring them that the title of space hero was indisputably theirs. China had already awarded the first person in space and the first spacewalker two such titles, and they were about to add two more, one of whom would be receiving it for the second time.

Lin Ju was more pragmatic, outright stating that Deng Lei would receive a mission bonus of two million yuan, and the other two would receive the same as compensation for their recruitment to the Unity crew. It took considerable persuasion from the senior astronaut to get them to accept.

Since all six astronauts were exhausted and in need of rest, Lin Ju and his group did not stay too long, finding a place to sit down separately before long.

Lin Ju, the big shot, and Li Wei were sitting in the newly completed building at the Xinyuan Launch Site. Less than one kilometer away through the window was Launch and Recovery Site 2 for the heavy-lift rocket, where the New Yuan-2 first stage rocket from the Oriental Action, having been recovered, was on display, awaiting transport and preparation.

The white rocket was positioned perfectly in the center of the window, complementing the scenery of Qiongzhou, instantly creating a distinct sense of technology.

Big shot, "The crew for this mission was determined before the launch, it was clear that as long as they returned alive they would at least be awarded the title of space hero. There will be an award ceremony in Beijing in a few days, and you must attend. This will be very beneficial to NAPE and the A100 project."

Li Wei, "New Yuan Aeronautics is now a key asset under national protection, so don’t be afraid once you’re in Beijing. I will also do my best to support you. The space sector is special; only when New Yuan stands with the Space Agency can we exert our greatest strength."

Lin Ju, "I understand, but I have a question."

The big shot smiled, "Is it about the ISS issue?"

"Exactly, New Yuan Aeronautics is after all a commercial company, but with the Wolf Amendment in place..."

"The Wolf Amendment cannot be repealed, and it has nothing to do with you."

Having said that, Lin Ju immediately understood the implications behind it.

"However, regarding the space station project, we actually have our own plans, and we have been constantly working to attract international partners. Frankly, there are many variables. New Yuan Aeronautics, as a completely private company, has certain advantages in some respects. Purely commercial collaboration doesn’t invite much criticism, and the market for such ventures is substantial. The right position can be very helpful."

The big shot had hinted as much as he could, and Lin Ju understood right away that he was referring to those Europeans, who had plenty of money and wanted to break free from American control. Using pure commercial cooperation as a pretext to chip away at the corner was a big opportunity for success, especially leveraging the momentum from the rescue mission.

It wasn’t until that evening that many people around the world learned that such a thrilling space rescue had taken place today.

While some were concerned about space travel, New Yuan Aeronautics gained renown as a private spaceflight company for single-handedly saving three astronauts from three different countries, earning much political capital in the process.

The Russia Duma started discussing allegations of dereliction of duty against Rusia Space Agency head Yuri and Baikonur Launch Center director Solovskiy, questioning why there was no emergency plan in place.

America saw NACA’s director Claire leading a renewed call for the "revival of the space shuttle," winning widespread public support, causing Congress much consternation.

There were also calls from ISS member countries for space missions to be opened up to New Yuan, posing another thorny issue.

Ma Yilong announced that SpaceX was conducting "Rapid Human Space Transportation System (RHSTS)" research and would continue to focus on the safety of manned space launches.