Technological power starts with upgrading lenses.

Chapter 435 Technical Demonstration

What made Kang Chi very satisfied was that after the routine "mobilization" speech, Academician Fu quickly began to demonstrate his strong professional ability and overall coordination ability, and began to analyze the main structure and modules of the space shuttle based on his understanding.

“…Although the thousands of modules and systems seem complicated, overall they are mainly two major modules.”

"The first is the core orbiter module, which is the most representative part of the space shuttle, including the astronaut cabin at the front, the cargo cabin in the middle, and the engine and tail at the rear."

"Here comes the first major divergence in direction. Country M's space shuttles mainly install the main engine directly on the orbiter. The advantage of this design at the time was that the engine could be recovered together with the orbiter, so the engine could be recycled. Although the fuel tanks carried on the back could not be recycled, the cost of fuel tanks was low, so in theory the cost of use was lower. However, it was precisely because of this design that their space shuttles often had problems and were less safe."

"The Russians install the main engine on the rocket. The thrust of the orbiter itself is relatively small and it mainly works outside the atmosphere. The advantage of this is that it is safer, but because their rockets cannot be reused, the design and use costs are relatively higher."

"If we design the Skycraft according to Mr. Kang's requirement of 100% recyclability, it doesn't really matter where the main engine is placed. But I personally think we should go the route of Da Mao and use a rocket to send the orbiter up."

"SpaceX has already developed very mature rocket recovery technology. Domestic companies such as Blue Arrow, China Aerospace Science and Technology, and Deep Blue Aerospace are working hard to catch up, and their progress is also acceptable, especially Blue Arrow's Suzaku series rockets. Except for the thrust difference between them and Starship, the performance of the entire recovery system is still very stable. Even if the reusable rocket technology is slow to catch up, our traditional rocket technology is still very mature, and even if we use the traditional rocket launch plan, it will not delay the development of orbital spacecraft."

Academician Fu turned his gaze to Kang Chi and continued, "If this route is adopted, I suggest that we discuss cooperation plans with Blue Arrow Aerospace."

Kang Chi thought for a moment and nodded, agreeing with this direction.

"I'll try to arrange for someone to handle it."

However, his answer was rather tactful and he did not explicitly state that he would definitely cooperate with Landis.

The main reason is that although their technology is good, it is equivalent to having a basic technology that can be used for upgrading, but Kang Chi clearly wants to continue upgrading with cheats, and there is no need for cooperative research and development. Therefore, for Kang Chi, the best option is to buy out their technology directly.
But it goes without saying that it is extremely difficult to buy out.

After all, Blue Arrow is also a commercial private aerospace company. How could it possibly sell its unique skills to others?

After excluding buyouts, what remains is patent technology licensing, but there are huge differences in the licensing methods. Out of self-interest, Kang Chi certainly wants to pay them a sum of money for each rocket built, but what if they propose to share the profits according to the actual rate of return of the rocket?
The problem is that Kang Chi clearly wants to upgrade the technology, so how to calculate the rate of return of the upgraded technology? If the other party insists that their technology is the most core and requires a higher rate of return, then Kang Chi is equivalent to working for others for free, which he cannot accept anyway.

Therefore, Kang Chi had no idea whether this cooperation could be reached, so he could only throw this question to Zhuo Yuewen, which was also a test for the new general manager.

Next, Academician Fu organized everyone to conduct a technical demonstration on the orbiter's frame structure design, main parameter indicators, communication and computing systems.

Based on the technology currently mastered by the group, Kingtian will eventually make very big changes compared to traditional aircraft in terms of communication and computing. First of all, it goes without saying that communications will all adopt quantum communication technology. The benefit that comes with quantum communication technology is that spacecraft no longer need to carry a huge computing system.

In order to improve computing power and reduce size, current chips are still nanometer-level, and their stability is relatively poor, especially when there is severe vibration, they are prone to problems. Therefore, whether in the military, automotive or aerospace fields, the computer chip process used is generally not too low, and the computing power may even be lower than the mobile phone chips used by ordinary people. However, even if the stability of the computing system is improved by reducing the process, various electronic failures are still prone to occur when the spacecraft is launched. To be on the safe side, either reduce the computing power requirements or design some backup systems just in case.

If all computing tasks are transferred to the ground, these problems will be immediately resolved.

Thanks to the low latency and interference-free characteristics of quantum communication, Kingkong can completely place almost all computing tasks on the ground. This will not only greatly simplify the structure of the space shuttle and improve the payload ratio of the aircraft, but also enhance the ability to handle emergencies.

The most important thing is that the ground can provide all the computing power needed by the spacecraft.

When faced with complex real-time power distribution adjustment calculations, the importance of computing power is self-evident!

……

The first half of the meeting was generally harmonious. Although everyone expressed their own opinions, they easily reached a consensus in the end. It was not until we started discussing the types of engines and fuels that major conflicts began to arise.

"Methane has huge advantages in terms of acquisition methods, cost, storage and transportation. At the same time, its combustion products are clean and have less carbon deposits, making it the best choice for reusable rockets. China Aerospace's 80-ton and 200-ton liquid oxygen-methane engines have taken shape, and Blue Arrow's Tianque series also has great development prospects..."

Academician Fu probably stands on the position that Longteng and Blue Arrow may start cooperation. At the same time, he is also influenced by the current development trend of international aerospace and believes that liquid oxygen-methane engines should be developed.

"But the specific impulse of methane is too low." Yan Hui expressed a completely different view from Academician Fu, "I think we cannot use the current situation to determine the future direction."

"Although liquid oxygen and methane are the development trend of international aerospace, it does not mean that methane is necessarily the best. The trend of liquid oxygen and methane was brought up by SpaceX, and they are engaged in liquid oxygen and methane for two main reasons. The first is that it is indeed good in terms of recycling and reuse as Academician Fu just mentioned. The other is that their entire plan is aimed at Mars. According to current data, methane is easier to obtain on Mars, but the problem is that we are temporarily targeting the moon. Is it really necessary to follow this trend?"

“Let me put forward a hypothesis here…”

"Assuming we bring back helium-3 from the moon and develop second-generation controlled nuclear fusion, and the cost of electricity is reduced by tens of times, will the production cost of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen be greatly reduced?"

"As for how to obtain them, liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen are obtained by electrolyzing water, and the last thing on Earth is water."

"If we talk about clean combustion, the combustion of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen produces water. Is there anything cleaner than this?"

"The advantages of methane you mentioned may become disadvantages in the future?"

(End of this chapter)