The lonely smoke in the desert, beside the wind and sand in the sky.
Rows of extra-long trailers covered with thick army-green camouflage cloth are speeding through the deserted Gobi Desert.
The one leading the way was a military vehicle with a special license plate, and on it were personnel responsible for coordination.
There is even a wheeled armored vehicle behind it equipped with a 12.7-caliber heavy machine gun.
Such a heavily armed convoy is naturally the transportation team for the "Hongyan-1" recyclable rocket.
This transportation work is also for the test launch of the "Hongyan-1" rocket.
For the sake of rocket launch safety and confidentiality, this test launch was not carried out at the Xichang launch base that was commonly used before, but at the Dongfeng launch site in Jiuquan.
At the same time, the security level of the rocket has been improved by more than a little compared to previous rocket launch missions.
This is what the senior leaders of the aerospace system strongly requested after learning about the specific performance parameters of the "Hongyan-1" rocket just developed by the Rocket Research Institute.
To be honest, Zhang Xingyang was still a little unimpressed by this at the beginning.
After all, there is nothing special about such a rocket that deserves to be kept secret in his eyes.
However, after the old leader said a word to him, he changed his view.
Separately guided mushroom-head ballistic missile!
At this time, the domestic development of separately guided warheads was not going particularly smoothly.
The Dongfeng-5B, which can carry ten sub-guided mushroom eggs, will take some time to enter service.
The front-end technology for separately guided warhead strikes is the "one arrow, multiple satellites" technology.
Rockets that can carry out "one rocket and multiple satellites" launch missions can, to a certain extent, be used as ballistic missiles after replacing satellites with guided mushroom egg warheads.
This is why the old leader, after knowing the details of the "Hongyan-1" rocket, directly asked the military to be responsible for the transportation and security of the rocket.
If the new rocket can successfully launch multiple satellites with one rocket, and each satellite can successfully enter the predetermined orbit.
This means that the Rocket Research Institute has reached a practical level in the technology of releasing multiple satellites in different orbits.
If this technology is applied to separately guided mushroom egg ballistic missiles, it means that only one missile needs to be launched to release different mushroom egg warheads in different predetermined trajectories.
As a result, one missile can hit several or even dozens of targets with a span of hundreds of kilometers.
Facing the murderous rocket transport convoy, no one dared to provoke them.
Even the wolves wandering in the no-man's land of the Gobi could only run away with their tails between their legs when encountering such a convoy.
"The rocket transport fleet has arrived at the lifting center."
The encrypted radio communication information came to Zhang Xingyang after translation.
Although the rocket had not yet arrived at the Dongfeng Launch Site, as the general person in charge of the entire "Hongyan-1" project, Zhang Xingyang came to the Dongfeng Launch Site early to coordinate various matters.
"Then let's go see our big baby!"
Zhang Xingyang smiled at the staff around him and said cheerfully.
Because the rocket with a total length of 70 meters is too difficult to transport as a whole, it is not only difficult to find such a long trailer.
Even if it can be put on a trailer, the weight of hundreds of tons is difficult for the trailer to bear, not to mention various steering problems during transportation.
Therefore, the rocket is transported in sections, and the rocket is disassembled into three parts: the first-stage rocket, the second-stage rocket, and the fairing.
This avoids the problem of the rocket being too long and also solves the problem of the rocket being too heavy.
In the hoisting center, the lifting device is slowly pulling up the first-stage rocket from its flat state.
People who see the "Hongyan No. 1" for the first time are often attracted by its rare propulsion system.
Many workers in the hoisting center were quietly discussing this first-stage rocket that uses an unusual propulsion system and has more than a dozen rocket engine nozzles at the bottom.
"This thing looks so weird!"
"It looks like the thrust is very strong."
"With so many engines, it seems that the fault tolerance rate is very low."
The shape of "Hongyan No. 1" is actually quite peculiar in this era.
It uses a propulsion system with 11 engines in parallel, four pop-up support legs at the bottom, and the now folding steering rudder on the first stage rocket.
Everything amazed the workers in the hoisting center who were accustomed to seeing traditional three-stage liquid rockets.
As the explosive bolts tightly connected the first and second stages of the rocket, the tall figure of the "Hongyan No. 1" rocket began to appear in front of everyone's eyes.
Compared with the series of rockets such as Changsan-B, the "Hongyan-1" is more slender and taller.
Chang Sanyi is about 57 meters tall.
"Hongyan No. 1" is nearly fifteen meters taller than Chang Sanyi, but the diameter difference between the two is only about one meter.
Coupled with the nearly perfect aerodynamic shape blown out of a supersonic wind tunnel.
It’s hard not to feel his beauty!
"The hoisting work can be completed today, and the rocket test launch will not be delayed!"
The person in charge of the hoisting center is a middle-aged man with a slim body and as tall as a pine tree.
He is a man who has experienced all kinds of fighting on the battlefield.
"Sorry to trouble you, Director Zhao." Zhang Xingyang still respected him very much.
"Dean Zhang, I have to say that I have seen many different types of rockets, but yours is the most beautiful one I have ever seen!"
The slender and well-proportioned appearance of "Hongyan No. 1" is as good as an old pervert seeing a stunning beauty for those who love rockets.
"Of course, we spent a lot of energy on the appearance design."
The appearance that has experienced the baptism of supersonic wind tunnel is very attractive.
——
In the early morning of the next day, riding on the Yingjiang military spy satellite, we were unable to monitor the intermittent time at the Dongfeng launch site.
"Hongyan 1" was transferred to the launch tower and began the final work before the rocket launch.
Engineers were on and off the rocket, doing final inspections and injecting hundreds of tons of liquid oxygen and kerosene into the rocket's fuel tanks at all levels.
The fuel transportation pipeline under the launcher has a very strong transportation capacity, and the fuel filling work was completed in a very short time.
The various testing devices on the launch pad, together with the engineers who made the final inspection of the rocket, also completed the last problem check before the rocket was launched.
After confirming that there were no problems with the rocket, everyone evacuated the launch pad.
Now the rocket has completed all the work on the ground and is ready to launch at any time.
It can be said that everything is ready, all we need is the east wind!
(End of chapter)
