Towards the end of 1996, the institute had more work to do, whether it was the research and development of various systems or the launch of rockets.
Even Liang Yi, who is responsible for finance and business negotiations, has been extremely busy during this period.
Not only is he responsible for sorting out the various financial expenditures and income of the Rocket Research Institute this year, but he is also responsible for supervising the many factories and experimental centers under his subordinates to submit their financial reports.
In addition, he is also responsible for part of the institute's external business negotiations. Recently, a small country in Southeast Asia intends to use Dragon Kingdom's rocket to launch the satellite they developed for the first time.
Liang Yi would travel to Yangcheng from time to time to conduct various consultations with their representatives.
After several visits to the entire Rocket Research Institute, Zhang Xingyang was probably the most leisurely person.
He had secretly told Geng Bo, who had been having a headache before, about the design work of the new rocket.
The research and development of the rocket propulsion system has basically determined the layout of the engine since using the not-so-advanced supercomputer two days ago, and the progress is pretty good.
What Zhang Xingyang has been more concerned about in the past two days is the preparations for the launch missions of the two "Iridium satellites" he previously signed with Iridium Satellite Company.
After all, this can be regarded as the first and only opportunity to launch satellites from foreign companies this year.
If the "Iridium" launch goes smoothly, everyone will be happy. Foreign capital companies found ways to reduce costs, and the Rocket Research Institute got enough profits and enough launch opportunities.
If the launch fails, it will only increase a certain cost for foreign capital companies, but for the Rocket Research Institute or the domestic aerospace industry, the blow will be a bit big.
The more launch opportunities there are, the faster the growth will be. After all, many technologies need to be fully verified in actual operation.
For example, the "Energy" rocket developed by Mao Xiong only carried out two launch missions in total, and many technologies were not perfected successfully.
After the fall of Mao Xiong, as such heavy-lift rockets were no longer needed, the "Energy" rocket had no use, thus losing the opportunity to perfect the technology.
So it can be said that this launch is related to domestic rocket launches and whether they can open up the international market.
As for the rocket that launched the two "Iridium satellites" this time, it was the Changsan-B rocket that had just undergone actual combat testing last month.
The Changsan-B rocket has already shown good performance in its last test launch, and the bridging between various systems is also relatively good.
There was no ignition failure of the third-stage rocket engine like during the previous launch of the Chang-3 rocket.
This basically shows that in the rocket manufacturing process, after the implementation of the double-zero system, the quality level of the finished product has been greatly improved.
Rocket manufacturing involves hundreds of manufacturers. Being able to do this to this extent in this era also means that the various processing capabilities that are the basis of the industry have also improved a lot.
Of course, all this is not without cost. In order to smoothly promote the double-return to zero management system, Zhang Xingyang has had hundreds of people enter the prison to use sewing machines due to various technical and management problems in the past half year.
As for others who have suffered various demotions, salary cuts, and fines, the total number can reach thousands.
It is precisely this kind of severe punishment and the continuous promotion of product quality within the entire aerospace system.
This allows the rocket to maintain a 100% parts qualification rate when it leaves the factory.
It is precisely because of such strict quality management that Zhang Xingyang has strong confidence in this "Iridium" launch.
I firmly believe that this Changsan-Yi launch mission will be a complete success.
The manufacturer of the Iridium satellite launched this time is Motorola. Of course, they are also one of the many supporters behind the Iridium satellite company.
At this time, Motorola has not fallen off the altar like it did in the smartphone era, and still maintains its status as a giant in the communications field.
The weight of the two satellites is more than 700 kilograms. The transportation method is that the Iridium company, which is rich and wealthy, directly chartered a Boeing aircraft to transport the two satellites across the ocean.
Although the launch base sometimes undertakes commercial launch missions, it does not allow unrelated persons to enter the launch base, so after the rocket arrives.
The entire process is handled domestically and is responsible for transportation, testing and other pre-launch work.
As the two "Iridium" satellites are loaded into the fairing of the rocket, the entire rocket launch mission officially enters the countdown in hours.
The launch site in December, even in Xichang, which is like spring all year round, seemed to have a more chilled atmosphere, with the vegetation turning yellow.
This is a new launch site that was just built not long ago. The previous launch site is no longer usable due to an accident at the beginning of the year.
The construction of the new launch site was mainly funded by the Rocket Research Institute. After all, it was the Rocket Research Institute that caused the loss of the launch site last time.
The newly built launch site and control center have greatly increased requirements in all aspects and can withstand the intensity of a magnitude 9 earthquake. The high-grade concrete walls used in the building are three meters thick and can withstand the explosive power of several tons of TNT head-on.
This was also a special request from the Rocket Research Institute. It was because of the personal losses caused by the last accident that Zhang Xingyang had to ask like this. He didn't want to see anyone die because of the accident again.
With the fuel refueling completed, personnel evacuated the launch site.
The auxiliary frame next to the rocket was slowly retracted, and the countdown to launch was really counting down to minutes.
On the huge electronic screen, a bright red countdown kept beating.
Soon it was time to launch.
The guy in charge of the voice broadcast countdown said methodically:
"10!"
"9!"
...
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
"ignition!"
The operator presses the bright red button that symbolizes rocket launch, and a powerful flame jet is ejected from the bottom of the rocket, slowly pushing the rocket weighing hundreds of tons into the air.
Along with radar stations tracking the trajectory of the rocket, the operation status of the rocket is transmitted back.
Zhang Xingyang was a little worried at first, but he calmed down a little.
"The first stage rocket separated successfully!"
Many engineers in the control center were busy with their work, and soon the rocket reached the sky above the ocean.
"Far Side No. 6, radar tracking is normal!"
"The second-stage rocket separated successfully!"
At this time, the height of the rocket has basically reached near the earth's low-Earth orbit.
"The third-stage rocket engine ignited successfully!"
"The star arrow is separated successfully!"
The two "Iridium" satellites have successfully entered the predetermined orbit. At this point, the domestic rocket launch mission has been successfully concluded.
After all, they are purchasing satellite rocket launch services.
Everyone in the control center no longer looked as excited as after the last successful launch, but everyone was still very happy that the satellite was successfully launched.
