I built an armada.

In addition, every gram of resources in space must be transported up from the ground by rockets.

Let alone water, a relatively precious resource, even a single gram of air has to be transported up from the ground!
Therefore, all resources in the sky are extremely precious, and even urine and feces must be utilized.

In addition to water recycling systems, the project team is also responsible for researching air regeneration systems, such as the cycle of converting carbon dioxide into oxygen.

Most importantly, research is needed on the rapid growth and harvesting techniques of higher plants under artificial light and nutrient solution conditions.

Its main research targets are corn, wheat, rice, and potatoes.

The main food crops of the Longxia tribe are rice and wheat.

In fact, even rice and wheat, which many people have long taken for granted, are only the result of development over the last few hundred years.

In earlier periods, the main food of ordinary people in the Longxia tribe was millet.

The fact that corn has become a major food crop is also the result of the country's continuous efforts in recent years.

The next major food crop to become is the potato.

The benefits of potatoes becoming a staple food are numerous, but we won't go into detail here.

The main issue is that there is still considerable room for growth and development prospects in areas such as potato production.

Therefore, potatoes, along with wheat, rice, and corn, were among the first food crops to be studied on the space station.

However, researching food crops was only a side task of this project; their main goal was to continuously improve the material closure degree.

Finally, the project team that faces the greatest challenge in the short term is the Intelligent Management and Autonomous Operation Team.

The project team aims to develop an advanced on-orbit management system for the space station based on an artificial intelligence architecture.

The system should be able to autonomously monitor the status of each subsystem, and even predict failures, optimize resource allocation, and even schedule astronauts' working hours.

In addition, the system should also be able to direct the robotic arm to complete some simple repetitive maintenance tasks, freeing astronauts from tedious station management so they can focus on scientific experiments and emergency response.

Each technology presents a tremendous challenge, involving multiple cutting-edge fields such as materials, energy, control, life sciences, and artificial intelligence.

As the person in charge of the entire project, Su Dingping must be responsible for overall coordination and control of the overall research direction.

He frequently shuttled between various task forces, participated in technical reviews, solved interdisciplinary problems, and allocated resources.

Su Dingping further demanded that each group not only solve technical problems, but also establish a complete "technology maturity" evaluation system and a "space verification" standard process.

This also accumulates valuable engineering experience for the actual construction of the "South Heavenly Gate" in the future.

……

Just as the Longxia tribe was launching satellite after satellite, the Eagle tribe finally realized that something seemed amiss.

The White House.

The atmosphere around the oval mahogany conference table was very somber.

The air in the entire conference room was filled with the bitter, burnt smell of expensive coffee.

There was also a faint smell of sweat that even the finest cologne couldn't mask.

Westerners tend to have more body hair and a stronger body odor, so they often use deodorants and other methods to cover up their body odor.

Only those who have the time and ability to maintain their dignity will earn the respect of others.

This is why Westerners attach great importance to hair removal and cleanliness.

If you have an unpleasant odor, you will be considered an undignified person and will never earn the respect of others.

If ordinary people are like this, let alone these self-proclaimed elite gentlemen.

However, at this moment, no one in the conference room had any mind to pay attention to the strong smell of sweat on their bodies.

The huge display screen on the wall showed a simulation of near-Earth orbit.

Tens of thousands of points of light, representing satellites from various countries, move slowly in virtual space.

Among them, the blue dots representing the Eagle Tribe still occupy a considerable density.

But suddenly, a considerable number of red dots appeared in this blue expanse.

Although these red dots don't seem to be many, it's clear from the overall picture that they are gradually forming a net-like structure.

The screen also displayed intelligence analysis.

According to intelligence analysis, at this rate of development, it may only take five years for the Longxia tribe to completely surpass the Xiong Ying tribe in the number of satellites!

Those present naturally knew that low Earth orbit resources were limited, and they were certainly aware of the seriousness of the problem.

The meeting was chaired by National Security Advisor Field.

The meeting participants still included key personnel from all departments, from top to bottom.

Normally, a meeting of this caliber might not be held even once every few years.

But little did we know that starting a few years ago, these meetings became more and more frequent and numerous.

The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Director of National Intelligence, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff… and even the Director of NASA, the Commander of Space Command, and several top advisors from major aerospace companies were summoned.

This is the third meeting of this level to be held in the past year.

The last time was when the Longxia tribe announced its sixth-generation fighter jet, and before that, the Longxia tribe's artificial intelligence began to take off.

It hadn't been long since the last meeting, and the host never expected that they would be able to gather together again so soon.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Field's voice was hoarse, "we have only one topic today: how to deal with the explosive growth of the Dragonsha tribe's near-Earth orbit satellite constellation and the strategic intentions behind it. Helen, please give your briefing first."

"Hold on."

The chieftain held up one finger.

"The Longxia tribe doesn't have many satellites right now. How confident are you that the Longxia tribe will launch a large number of low-Earth orbit satellites in the future?"

Field's face stiffened.

He never expected that the Great Chief would ask such a foolish question.

It is a fact that the Longxia tribe is unwilling to become the Eagle tribe's subordinate, a fact recognized worldwide.

To compete with the Eagle Tribe for supremacy, it is essential to ensure one's own space security.

Whether it's positioning systems in the civilian field or advanced guidance systems in the military field, all these technologies determine that the Longxia tribe cannot continue to use the Eagle tribe's technology.

In previous years, in order to target the Longxia tribe, the Eagle tribe would frequently disconnect the GPS positioning systems of various fields.

The Bitter Dragon Xia tribe has eaten this many times before, and they certainly wouldn't want to eat any more.

Developing its own satellite system has become inevitable.

All technologies have traceable patterns, and the Longxia tribe is constantly increasing the number and frequency of satellite launches. What they want is already obvious.

But Field knew that it was no use talking to the chief about these things; he had to use one sentence to make the chief understand the seriousness of the matter.

"According to the latest intelligence we have received, the Longxia tribe has applied for orbital resources for as many as 20,000 satellites!"

"That's more than the total number of satellites in the world combined."

The chieftain sighed, stretched out his hands to cover his face, and rubbed them vigorously.

"I understand. Please continue."

It wasn't that he was unaware of the seriousness of the matter, but rather that he was unwilling to devote more energy to it.

At this critical juncture, if it were revealed that the Longxia tribe had caught up with or even surpassed the Xiong Ying tribe in another aspect, it would not be good news for the two of them.

The Director of National Intelligence pulled up a highly condensed assessment report and projected it.

“In the past 16 months, Longxia has launched more than 30 multi-functional satellites into orbits between 300 and 1200 kilometers, and the pace is accelerating.”

"Based on the existing intelligence, the Longxia tribe's star network design is very ingenious, covering multiple functions such as communication, remote sensing, navigation enhancement, and space target surveillance."

"Their satellites form a dense network, and more importantly..."

He increased the size of several orbital parameters.

"What they prioritized was the golden orbital belt that has been recognized in recent years as having the most strategic and economic value, including several scarce sun-synchronous orbits and low-inclination orbits."

"According to our model predictions, at this rate, Longxia may surpass us in the number of satellites in certain key frequency bands and orbital locations within the next 18-24 months."

How many satellites do we launch each year?

The chieftain suddenly interrupted.

“Uh… Mr. Chief, the quantity is forty.”

"But in reality, although we launched a relatively large number of satellites, however..."

The chieftain raised his palm, interrupting him.

"I have no more questions. You can continue the discussion."

He visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

For him, all he needs to do is be far ahead in numbers.

As for the quality of the launched satellites and the so-called competition for orbital resources, none of that matters.

After all, those foolish voters wouldn't understand the deeper meaning behind this.

Many people may not even understand what the word "satellite" means.

It's important to understand that even in the Eagle Tribe today, a significant portion of the population still believes that the entire Earth is actually a flat plane.

Expecting these voters to understand what a satellite is is simply wishful thinking.

Even for voters with a slightly higher level of education, it would be enough to let them know that the Eagle Tribe's satellites are still the most advanced in the world.

Since they are still number one now, and will not be overtaken by other countries during his term.

That wouldn't have any impact on his upcoming election.

"Is it really necessary to be so serious about this? You know, we have far more satellites than they do."

The defense minister spoke in a very relaxed tone.

He initially thought it was a huge deal, but after carefully reviewing the data, the Minister of Defense concluded that there was no need to worry too much.

If they wanted to, they could launch far more satellites each year than the Longxia tribe.

"Even if we give them time to catch up, how long will it take them to catch up with the number of our satellites?"

The airline's technical advisor hesitated for a moment before slowly speaking:
“Mr. Minister, quantity is only one of the criteria we use to judge a country’s space capabilities.”

"Based on the current situation, the average lifespan of Longxia Tribe's satellites is designed to be between 7 and 10 years, with some individual satellites designed to have a longer lifespan."

"This is much longer than the 5-year lifespan designed for our satellites, which shows..."

"Wait a minute, I seem to remember that some of our satellites have been in service for more than 15 or even 20 years?"

The Secretary of State spoke with an unfriendly expression.

"I advise certain people not to fabricate nonsensical data in order to obtain funding."

The technical consultant explained with great frustration:
“We do have some satellites with a lifespan of over 15 years, or even 20 years, but that is a completely different concept from the satellites launched by the Longxia tribe that we are discussing.”

"The Longxia tribe claims that they are seizing low-orbit resources, while satellites in these orbits are generally designed to have a lifespan of about 5 to 7 years."

“The lifespan of our satellites in Earth orbit is generally shorter, usually five years or less.”

"so……"

The technical consultant shrugged, and seeing that no one was arguing, he continued.

"Moreover, the Longxia Tribe adopts a modular design, which has a higher functional density and a single-satellite cost... According to our reverse engineering estimates, it may only be 60%-70% of our satellites with the same function."

The cost of the Eagle Tribe... well, those who know, know.

If they can produce a bag of screws worth $80,000, what else are they incapable of?

Moreover, the key is that they earn and spend US dollars. Considering the current situation of the Eagle Tribe, and taking into account factors such as exchange rate differences, the cost for the Dragon Summer Tribe to launch a satellite may be less than one-third of that of the Eagle Tribe.

If the Longxia tribe can further reduce costs, this gap will widen to a desperate level.

"Most importantly, their rapid launch capability is steadily improving."

"Behind this lies mature mass production and highly automated testing processes..."

"Given our current launch frequency and costs, we... do not have a significant advantage at the moment."

The technical consultant's statement was already quite polite.

If we're really going to have a discussion, strictly speaking, the Longxia tribe is now on par with the Xiongying tribe in terms of satellite launch technology.

Taking into account factors such as cost, it is entirely fair to say that the Longxia tribe surpasses the Xiongying tribe.

Helen added, "Their R&D iteration cycle seems to be extremely short; in the last year alone, it seems they've iterated several times."

"And we..."

Helen gave an awkward yet polite smile, practically screaming "I can't do it!" on her face. (End of Chapter)