"Mr. Chen, what do you want from me this time?"
Zhang Xingyang looked at the smiling Chen Zhongyan with some confusion in the conference room of the Rocket Research Institute.
Now both the Beidou navigation system and the low-orbit satellite communication network are on the right track.
Both satellites of the first phase of the Beidou Navigation Project have been launched, leaving only one spare satellite that has not yet been launched into space.
But a spare satellite is obviously not worth a special trip for Chen Zhongyan.
As for the second batch of low-orbit communication satellites, they are still one or two months away from launch.
Even if Chen Zhongyan is worried about the launch of the second batch of communication satellites, it would be better to come one or two days in advance.
"Is there something wrong with Beidou or the communication satellite?"
Zhang Xingyang finally couldn't help but ask.
"Of course not!" Chen Zhongyan said after taking a sip of tea.
"Beidou is doing well, and the communication satellites of the 101 Research Institute are also pretty good. Satellite communications are now used in the eastern region!"
Putting down the tea cup, Chen Zhongyan's expression became serious:
"I came to you this time because I have a new task for you."
"What mission?"
Countless space exploration missions flashed across Zhang Xingyang's mind, and he leaned forward curiously, wanting to know the answer.
"Have you ever understood manned spaceflight?" Chen Zhongyan first asked a question.
At this time, Zhang Xingyang also came to his senses. Chen Zhongyan probably came to him this time to inquire about Dragon Kingdom's manned space flight.
"Currently, there are only two countries in the world that can independently accomplish manned spaceflight."
"One is Da Mao, who inherits Mao Xiong's aerospace legacy, and the other is Eagle Sauce."
Zhang Xingyang first talked about the two countries in the world that can independently develop the aerospace industry.
Then after a pause, he continued:
"If we want to carry out manned spaceflight projects now, there are still many difficulties."
At this time, Chen Zhongyan showed interest for the first time: "Tell me what are the difficulties?"
"The first and most important thing is the manned spacecraft system. We have no technical reserves in this area."
Zhang Xingyang frowned and said.
"And judging from the current situation, neither Da Mao nor Ying Jiang will give us a chance to obtain their manned spacecraft technology."
If we push the time forward another eight or nine years, just after the separation, it is still possible that Da Mao, who is full of waste and waiting for things to be done, will let us obtain part of the manned space technology at a high price.
But this possibility is almost gone now. At this time, Da Mao has breathed a sigh of relief from the state of being about to die.
Especially in aerospace, it has established good relations with several Western countries.
So he doesn't like Long Guo, who was once his little brother.
Originally, there was still an intention in China to take a ride on Da Mao's manned spacecraft and go into space to have a look first, but now they have dropped the matter.
"So if the problem of manned spacecraft is not solved, everything else is nonsense."
"Mr. Chen, is there any progress on the manned spacecraft?"
After Zhang Xingyang finished speaking his thoughts, he asked Chen Zhongyan, who had never told the real reason why he came to the Rocket Academy.
Chen Zhongyan turned his head slightly and looked at the non-stop summer rainstorm outside the window. After a while, he said:
"The manned spacecraft is currently progressing relatively smoothly. It is expected that the first launch mission will be carried out as early as the end of this year or next year."
"Last month, the flight control building specifically designed for manned spaceflight in Beidu was completed."
"Soon, we will conduct a spacecraft simulation in the flight control building to test the entire process from launch to the safe return of the astronauts."
At this time, Chen Zhongyan glanced at Zhang Xingyang, who was still a little confused, and paused.
"Mr. Chen, this matter has nothing to do with us, right?"
"Didn't they already decide to use the long 2F?"
The reason why Zhang Xingyang didn't put too much energy into this matter was mainly because he didn't have much to do with the Rocket Research Institute.
"Before, I was determined to use Long 2F, but I recommended our Hongyan rocket to them at the beginning of the year."
"After half a year of evaluation, they decided to replace the original Long 2F rocket with your Hongyan rocket!"
Chen Zhongyan finally said the purpose of coming here, that is, manned spaceflight will use their rockets!
However, Zhang Xingyang still had some surprises. After all, there was only one year left at most before the launch date.
Temporarily replacing the launch vehicle requires a lot of new work.
"Mr. Chen, why did you suddenly change to Hongyan Rocket?"
Zhang Xingyang asked a little confused.
"Because your carrying capacity is stronger!"
"You also know very well that the carrying capacity of the Chang 2F rocket is only 7.8 tons even in the LEO orbit."
"The carrying capacity of your Hongyan rocket is almost three times that of theirs. It also has more experimental equipment and various survival materials necessary for astronauts that can be launched into space at one time!"
Chen Zhongyan said to Zhang Xingyang seriously.
In fact, if the carrying capacity of the Hongyan rocket was not so attractive, the authorities would not have replaced the long 2F rocket that was originally used for manned space launches.
After all, no matter what, the Long 2F rocket has made a lot of special modifications for the manned program.
For example, the escape system for the safety of astronauts, as well as additional fault detection and processing systems.
None of these are available on the Hongyan rocket. If the Hongyan rocket is selected as the launch vehicle for manned spaceflight,
Then these systems must be modified and installed before the launch mission.
"The most important thing is to consider it for the future Phase II and Phase III plans of manned spaceflight!"
Chen Zhongyan revealed the long-term reason why senior officials like the Hongyan Rockets.
The domestic manned space program is divided into a three-step strategy.
The first step is to launch unmanned and manned spacecraft, safely send astronauts into low-Earth orbit, conduct earth observation and scientific experiments, and return astronauts to the ground safely.
This step is also the simplest step in the three-step plan. It only requires that people can be safely sent into space and returned safely.
The second step is to continue to break through the basic technologies of manned spaceflight:
Multiple people fly for multiple days, astronauts leave the cabin and walk in space, and complete the rendezvous and docking of the spacecraft and the space capsule.
On the basis of breakthroughs in these technologies, short-term manned space laboratories will be launched and a complete supporting space engineering system will be built.
This step is why the top management wants to change the launch rocket.
The weight of the short-term space experiment station was not more than eight tons in the original plan, which was largely limited by the carrying capacity of the launch vehicle.
If the Hongyan rocket with a LEO orbital carrying capacity of 26 tons is used, the weight of the space laboratory can be made larger!
The third step is to establish a permanent space laboratory and build China's space engineering system.
"Understood, we will contact the manned space agency as soon as possible to modify the Hongyan rocket's manned spacecraft."
Zhang Xingyang agreed happily.
In his mind, he remembered the "Tiangong" space star port in his previous life, which had a nine-layer complex space structure.
It can berth more than a hundred large interstellar spacecraft with a mass of more than 10,000 tons at the same time.
A super-large space port with a mass of over 10 million tons, a miracle in the starry sky for mankind!
(End of chapter)
