Riding the wind of rebirth

"Gaoxing-1 has entered the orbit change zone."

"The ion propulsion is operating normally."

"Data tracking is normal."

"Initiating synchronization track switching..."

"Entering geosynchronous orbit, initiating positioning procedures..."

"Reverse propulsion is normal, deceleration is normal."

"Gaoxing-1 is in position." (Applause)

"Inter-satellite link connection initiated, connection successful, data transmission normal." (Applause)

"Attitude adjustment initiated, solar panels deployed, attitude adjustment successful, solar panels successfully deployed." (Applause)

"Sky-to-ground network link complete, system startup initiated, power control system switching commencing, switching normal, Gaoxing-1 deployment successful. Comrades! This launch mission is a complete success!"

"Great!" The entire launch hall erupted in thunderous cheers and applause, almost lifting the roof off the command center. Even through the glass curtain wall, Zhou Zhi and his colleagues could feel everyone's excitement.

"We did it!" Luo Yujuan pushed open the door of the observation room and shouted to Zhou Zhi, Li Laosan and their friends with a big smile.

"Success! Congratulations!" Zhou Zhi excitedly shook hands with Luo Yujuan.

"We should be the ones congratulating you!" Luo Yujuan said with a smile.

"Then... congratulations to you both!" Zhou Zhi laughed heartily.

“Please come with me, the three of you,” Luo Yujuan said, pointing to Zhou Zhi, Mai Xiaomiao, and Li Laosan. “The leaders want to have a chat with you.”

"Of course, of course, our comrades..."

"Someone will take them back to the hotel to rest, or they can wait here. It shouldn't take up too much of your time."

"That's right, that's right. The leaders have all worked hard all night, they should get some rest." The happiest person about the successful launch was none other than Li Laosan, the financier, whose words now even carried a strong hint of flattery.

"Then let's wait for you here. We won't be able to sleep if we go back now." Liang Hong said with a smile, "Congratulations!"

Soon, Luo Yujuan led the three of them to a small conference room in the circular command center. Base leader Yu and Zhang from the Institute of Computing Technology were already sitting in the conference room, each holding a thick stack of documents and looking at them, while exchanging views with several soldiers in white coats on the video conference.

Upon seeing the group enter, Elder Yu first switched off his communication device, then smiled and said, "This launch has lived up to your expectations, hasn't it?"

"Thank you, thank you so much!" Li Laosan said excitedly, "Thank you, Elder Yu, Elder Zhang, and all the aerospace workers and researchers from the Post and Telecommunications Institute who worked hard for this project. Your progress is really fast, which has given us a big surprise and bought us more time for subsequent work!" Elder Zhang was not proud at all, but smiled and said, "Next, there is still debugging and acceptance work. It is currently facing south, which can be considered a preliminary success."

Mai Xiaomiao said, "We have already connected to the system and started the acceptance work. Grandpa Zhang, Grandpa Yu, we will definitely do our best to complete the system acceptance test as soon as possible, and let our colleagues learn from your work attitude and speed. We really admire you."

"This is also a result of learning from you all," Old Yu said with a smile. "The main reason is the added benefit of the process quality control system, which has transformed the previously rigid, sequential work mechanism into a parallel and dynamic control system. This has not only greatly improved the speed, but also brought about a qualitative change in efficiency and quality control!"

Zhou Zhi waved his hands repeatedly: "We never expected that you could make this system so efficient. It feels like we couldn't even get half of its effectiveness out of our hands before. Your approach has truly opened our eyes."

"We are, after all, soldiers and military industrial workers, and we are naturally suited to this strict, meticulous, and precise system." Old Yu smiled and said, "Speaking of an iron will, we soldiers are indeed stronger, but in the past, relying solely on an iron will still resulted in frequent mistakes and accidents. In the end, we still need to combine both, and both must be strong!"

"I also want to thank you all for your trust," Mr. Zhang said. "The original contract was for 300 million US dollars over five years. Later, we asked for an acceleration, and you did not refuse. We all know that it is very stressful for any company to raise so many US dollars in a short period of time. However, you have always made payments on time without any hesitation or excuse. We are really touched by this trust."

"You all made a significant contribution to the country's additional $30 billion in foreign exchange earnings this year!"

That is indeed true. Not to mention that Clover Group is now the biggest contributor to foreign exchange earnings, Li Laosan's own AXA Fund's foreign trade department and his wife's Jinan Group have also contributed a lot.

But all of these are within the plan. The $200 million allocated in advance for the Tianxing Diwang project alone accounts for almost one percent of the country's new foreign exchange earnings, which is already quite impressive.

"Since we've all had such a pleasant working relationship, what are our plans for the next step..."

The Tianxing Diwang Project is divided into four phases. The first three phases use the Long March 3B rocket to launch four satellites at a time, one high-altitude and three medium-altitude. The final phase uses the Long March 4B rocket to launch three satellites at a time, one high-altitude and two medium-altitude, thus completing the configuration of five high-altitude and ten low-altitude satellites.

"The upcoming launch plan may be very demanding," said Old Yu. "As you all know, the Tianxing Diwang project is actually just a preliminary plan to a series of commercial and national plans... whether it's production or assembly tasks..."

“Elder Yu, Elder Zhang, we think that to be on the safe side, it would be better to complete the Tianxing Diwang project first, conduct thorough practical verification, and then proceed with subsequent plans,” Zhou Zhi said. “We understand everyone’s eagerness, but this is the safest way to proceed.”

“I do have a suggestion,” Li Laosan said. “In our plan, at least for the first three phases, the configurations of both rockets and satellites will be exactly the same. Therefore, we can open another rocket production line and another satellite production line to meet the production and assembly needs!”

“Third Brother makes a good point.” Zhou Zhi’s mind started to work: “Since the next plan will require a large number of Xingqing medium-orbit and Xingqing geostationary orbit satellites, as well as Long March 3B rockets, then let’s expand production.”

At this point, Zhou Zhi turned to Li Laosan and said, "I think Second Brother can come up with the investment for the expansion. Now that the first phase of the Xingqing sub-project has been successful, it has fully verified the feasibility of our plan. He should be envious by now."

“That’s right!” Li Laosan slapped his thigh: “We can get Second Brother moving ahead of time. If Yangtze Telecom can’t raise the investment funds in a short time, we can have them look for Anxin Loan!”

"If you can persuade Mr. Li, that would be wonderful!" Old Yu's brows, which had been furrowed slightly, relaxed. "If he agrees to invest ahead of schedule, we can strike while the iron is hot and expand production! We won't have to wait for the rice to cook!"

"In that case, the comrades' tasks will become even more arduous." Zhou Zhi saw that the two elders had no objections, but he became worried about this side.

"You can rest assured about that," said Old Yu. "The most difficult design and verification phases are over; all that's left is mass production." (End of Chapter)