Hearing Qin Xinghe's words, Wu Hao smiled helplessly, and then said: "Actually, this is just a kind of technological exploration in the field of aerospace technology.
What kind of starship Musk has built is a first. Although the advantages of starships have not been shown at present, in the long run, the prospects in this direction are still very broad.
So naturally we cannot just be spectators, we must actively participate.
Of course, we can’t jump in so blindly. We still have to have our direction, our goals and plans.
Compared with Musk, who is so ambitious and ambitious, we are relatively pragmatic, focusing on practicality, and then gradually develop and advance, so as to ultimately achieve our goals. "
Oh, it seems that you already have a direction and goals. Let me tell you, I am more interested in this multi-purpose orbiter. Qin Xinghe said with a smile.
Wu Hao smiled as expected at Zhang Jun when he heard this, and then introduced: "It's like this. The direction of this multi-purpose orbiter is actually very different from Musk's starship. What Musk said It is still based on technology developed from the Falcon rocket, so this starship can essentially be regarded as a heavy-duty launch vehicle that can be recycled and reused. It's just that the payload position in front of the rocket is integrated into it, yes It can carry cargo payloads or other spacecraft.
Of course, if the functions of a manned spacecraft are integrated in the future, it will naturally have the ability to carry people.
So from this aspect, this starship is actually the fusion of heavy-duty launch vehicles and manned spacecrafts, and there is nothing technically surprising about it.
As for us, the multi-purpose orbiter we want to develop is actually an aerospace vehicle. "
Space vehicle? Qin Xinghe couldn't help but said blankly, he was not unfamiliar with this thing. In fact, the aerospace system is also working on the development of aerospace vehicles, or aerospace aircraft, and has achieved very gratifying results. In the world today, there are only two countries that can make achievements in this field, one is us and the other is Laomi.
So when he heard Wu Hao say this, he was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Wu Hao would like this idea so much.
"Yes, aerospace vehicle." Wu Hao confirmed with a smile: "Actually, we all know that aerospace vehicle is an imitation or technological continuation of our former space shuttle.
However, with the emergence of new technologies and new concepts, modern aerospace vehicles are no longer the same technical route as the original space shuttle.
At present, the aerospace vehicles of various countries and the projects under development regard the aerospace vehicle as a payload, and then launch it into space with a rocket and fly around in the space orbit. The time in orbit depends on the mission needs and The fuel carried by the aerospace vehicle itself.
After completing its scheduled mission, the aerospace vehicle needs to return to the atmosphere, then use the lift generated by the wings to glide in the atmosphere, and then land smoothly on the runway to achieve landing.
Therefore, these aerospace vehicles all have a common problem, or characteristic, that is, they do not participate in the launch and flight during the ascent stage of launch. They can only rely on the rocket to start up after it is launched into space. Orbiting the Earth.
As for our multi-purpose orbiter, it is also an aerospace vehicle. However, it is different from other aerospace vehicles. It is not launched into space by a launch vehicle like a spacecraft. Instead, it is launched into space by a launch vehicle. It will participate in the second half of the launch process and fly into space by itself.
To put it simply, our structure is similar to a starship. It relies on the launch of a first-stage rocket to push it up to a predetermined height. Then the first-stage rocket falls off, and the multi-purpose orbiter ignites and starts, and then flies out of the atmosphere and reaches space.
It flies around the space orbit, and after completing the relevant tasks, it returns to the atmosphere and uses the lift generated by the wings to glide and land on the ground runway to complete the entire mission. "
"I see, that is to say, unlike the straight up and down structure like Musk's starship, your multi-purpose orbiter can actually be regarded as an aerospace vehicle, or a space shuttle. But compared to the original Compared with the complex launch method of the space shuttle, the launch of your multi-purpose orbiter is simpler, and the launch cost is cheaper." After listening to Wu Hao's introduction, Qin Xinghe suddenly reacted.
It can be understood this way.
Wu Hao answered with a smile: "The first-stage rocket that launches this multi-purpose orbiter is our Jianmu-7 core first-stage rocket, and multiple first-stage rockets can be bundled as needed to turn it into a Jianmu The core first stage and booster part of No. 9 can propel the launch of a multi-purpose orbiter with greater mass."
Hearing this, Qin Xinghe couldn't help but frowned and expressed his doubts: "But in this case, if this multi-purpose orbiter participates in the entire launch process, it will inevitably consume a lot of fuel and occupy this multi-purpose orbiter. The payload of the aircraft. As a result, the payload it can carry is very small, and the application field and value are naturally greatly reduced."
You are right. Wu Hao nodded and responded: "It is true that this kind of multi-purpose orbiter is not as high as the payload that conventional launch vehicles can transport, but it is more cost-effective and can be used repeatedly.
At present, the recyclable and reusable rockets developed by various countries all realize the recycling and reuse of core first-stage rockets, booster rockets and fairings. Almost no one has achieved the recycling and reuse of core-two stages, core-three stages, or even upper stages. Recycle and reuse.
And our multi-purpose orbiter has done it. It can serve as the second and third stages of the rocket, including the upper stage that flies in space orbit.
And it can be used repeatedly, so the cost amortized to the cost of each launch is naturally relatively low.
Another thing is that the greatest value of this multi-purpose orbiter is not to transport things into space, but to transport things back to the earth from space. Isn't this the most precious thing about the space shuttle? "
Hearing Wu Hao's words, Qin Xinghe suddenly realized that indeed, the greatest advantage of the space shuttle, or its most valuable function, is not to launch things into space. Many launch vehicles can do this, and can transport more than it. The more, the better.
The biggest advantage of the space shuttle is that it can transport things from space to the earth, although many spacecraft have this function. But capturing things from space orbit and then bringing them back is what these spacecraft cannot do. (End of chapter)
