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Chapter 1534 Global Positioning System (First update, please subscribe)
The world has changed so much this year.

The Labour Party should have completed the transition from opposition to ruling party once again, but due to the intervention of the invisible hand, the Profumo scandal was eliminated. It can be predicted that in the next few years, the British people will have to live a few more years of being exploited by the Conservative Party.

As for Southeast Asia, until American soldiers sang "Good Morning Saigon" there, the situation there had not changed much. Saigon's generals continued to fight among themselves, and the politicians still had no real power; protests were endless, and if Hanoi had not existed, Saigon might have started a fight first.

As for Europe, France and Germany are leading a European integration project.

And what about the UK?

They could only watch helplessly from the sidelines, and at the same time, the idea of ​​the "East African Federation" was finally made public at the end of the year. After this news was made public, it was naturally criticized by "progressives" from all sides. The Eastern world, led by the Soviet Union, accused this of being "the death throes of colonialism" and stated that "it would help the local people gain ultimate independence."

And what about the United States?

Britain expressed limited understanding and hoped that London would fully respect the wishes of the local people in the process. This is the relationship between Britain and the United States. They trip each other up, but they still have to cooperate due to the general environment.

While London was busy with the "East African Federation", a project concerning the unity and future of the Commonwealth was also fully launched within the Commonwealth.

This project was proposed by Li Yian to the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. It can be regarded as one of the most important space cooperation programs within the Commonwealth so far, even surpassing the "Moon Landing Project". The reason is that the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa are not very interested in the moon landing, and they only have limited investment.

"We can't see the moon landing. What's the significance of this to the UK? Are billions of pounds spent just to display the Union Jack on the moon?"

Due to the opposition of the Labour Party, Britain's share in the "Moon Landing Project" was reduced to 10%. As for Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa, their combined share was only 5%. They were basically just "participants" who just wanted to paint a national flag on the lunar module.

So, in this case, the huge "moon landing project" is not the largest cooperative project, but has almost become a one-man show of Space Exploration Technology Company.

The space industry is a business that requires money, no, it is a business that requires burning money.

Therefore, in order for the space technology exploration company to continue to burn money, the company urgently needs a project that can make money and generate profit.

And we can also trick the UK into joining the project.

This project, namely the "Beidou Project", aims to establish a global positioning system, also known as the GPS system. For the United Kingdom, which has not yet completely declined, they still need a global positioning system, which plays a very important role in Africa, Asia and the oceans.

Demand is the basis for cooperation between the two parties.

There is only one global positioning system operating in space now, and that is the United States' Transit Satellite Positioning System.

The Transit Satellite Positioning System, also known as the Transit satellite, is the space portion of the Doppler frequency measurement satellite navigation system developed by the United States Navy. It is also known as the Navy Satellite Navigation System. It is the world's first satellite navigation system. It provides non-continuous two-dimensional navigation and positioning services for various types of US submarines and surface ships by broadcasting radio navigation signals.

This system is a navigation and positioning system exclusively used by the U.S. Navy, which shows how wealthy the U.S. is. However, its positioning accuracy is 50-100 meters. It certainly will not be a problem for warship navigation, but it cannot meet the needs of high-precision positioning.

In addition to this set of navigation and positioning systems dedicated to the US Navy, there is also the "Beidou-1" system, which was developed by Space Technology Exploration Corporation and uses geosynchronous satellites to provide users with an all-weather, regional satellite positioning system. Its principle is the famous GPS in later generations.

Because they already have a prototype and experience in regional use, the UK is naturally willing to invest. As for Australia, Canada and other countries, the focus is on participation, and they just want to get a piece of the pie.

After all, everyone wants to be involved in something beneficial.

Therefore, when representatives from all parties learned that the Beidou Navigation System had been put into use and its positioning accuracy had reached 10 meters, they were surprised and expressed their interest in participating in the global network.

In the subsequent negotiations, the focus of the negotiations among all parties was naturally on the shares, and finally an agreement was reached: SpaceX would provide the technology, Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa would pay to build the satellite, and pay to entrust SpaceX to launch the satellite into space using a rocket.

In addition, apart from the share of each country, there was even an unexpected dispute in the negotiations, which was the naming rights. The UK felt that "Beidou" was too oriental and insisted on using a British term. Finally, at the suggestion of Li Yian, the system was named Global Positioning System. Its English name is: Global Positioning System, abbreviated as "GPS", and the British agreed.

All we can say is that history sometimes returns to its original form in an unexpected way.

At the end of this year, the US election ended with Johnson's victory as expected. During the election, as both sides attacked and defended each other, the attention of the whole United States on the situation in Saigon reached its peak.

Just as the United States was sending more troops to Saigon and continuing to increase its strength, an aviation cooperation agreement was signed in London SEA, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. The participating parties carried out comprehensive and in-depth cooperation on the global positioning system to provide "accurate satellite positioning services" for all mankind.

For all mankind!
Over the years, Li Yian, known as the "last imperialist", has always liked to use this banner.

Is there anything more noble than this banner, and is there anything that represents the highest moral point of human civilization? After Yuan Jialiu signed the cooperation agreement on behalf of Space Exploration Technology Company, he came to the official residence as soon as he returned to Chang'an!
"My friend, there is no one more suitable than you to lead mankind in space exploration."

Li Yian, who hadn't seen him for a while, immediately mingled with his old friend as he had done in the past, and said in a slightly excited tone:

"I hope this system can achieve two things: be civilian and free, and mainly benefit society. Bring the fruits of scientific and technological progress into thousands of households and to all mankind, rather than limiting it to the military field."

Even though the satellite positioning system was originally developed for military use, as far as Li Yian knows, the satellite positioning system can only have a future if it seizes the civilian market.

As a former freeloader in the 21st century, Li Yian not only has a special liking for gimmicks like free, but also has a deep feeling about it. Most people are like this - it's fun to get something for free for a while, and it's always fun to get something for free.

Only free of charge can promote it globally in a short period of time, and the purpose of promotion is to occupy the market in advance.

“I will definitely try my best.”

Yuan Jialiu expressed his agreement with this idea. After all, this is the motivation of scientists.

“Bringing technology into everyday life and changing people’s lives is what we work for.”

Although he agreed with this view, Yuan Jialiu had been in charge of the space technology exploration company for such a long time, and he was very clear about the importance of funds to the company.
If the total cost of the moon landing project is expected to exceed 300 billion yuan, it will take up too much of the aerospace budget. There is no need for them to bring other countries in to work together on the full satellite positioning system.

The implementation of the global satellite positioning system requires more than 30 billion yuan in funding. Faced with this huge funding gap, the Space Technology Exploration Company ultimately has no choice but to choose international cooperation.

After all, in the aerospace industry, every penny has its use. One more penny spent on global satellite positioning means one less penny spent in other areas.

In short, without money, all scientific research is in vain.

Yuan Jialiu added:

"Although it can be brought into thousands of households for free, sir, if it is free, how can we recover the investment cost?"

Facing Yuan Jialiu's question, Li Yian thought for a moment and then said:

"The market, the monopoly of the market itself is a profit-making resource!"

Monopolize the global satellite navigation market!

This is exactly what Li Yian thought.

The United States' Transit satellite positioning system has just been deployed, and the Beidou system is only a regional positioning system.

Therefore, it is wonderful to establish a global satellite positioning system now, because the satellite orbit, frequency band and wavelength used by the satellite positioning system all restrict its positioning accuracy. The resources used by Space Technology Exploration Company originally belonged to the United States and the Soviet Union.

Because of their first-mover advantage, the United States and Russia did not have to compete for orbital space resources like Europe and the East later did.

The fact that SEA can occupy the global market in satellite positioning systems is a good emerging industry for SEA. Originally, this industry should belong to the United States. After all, GPS occupies the vast majority of the world's market. For a long time, the Beidou system relied on trucks and buses to maintain operations through official unified installation. As for the Russian satellite positioning system, after the network was established, it was unable to add satellites, and the network was destroyed. The Galileo system is hanging on half-dead.

The GPS system has the highest market share and the most advanced technology. Of course, it is also one of NASA's biggest profit projects.

Therefore, from the perspective of feeling one's way across the river, seizing the market and monopolizing the market is the foundation of development.

If the GPS system wants to monopolize the market, it is not just relying on its technological leadership. The most important thing is to open it up for civilian applications as soon as possible and seize the market before the United States reacts.

As for profits... once we monopolize the market, it will only take a few minutes to make profits!

"…So, from a development perspective, the key is to occupy the market. "Free" is the best promotion tool. By offering free services in the civilian market, we can increase the number of users. When the number of users reaches a certain level, the next step is naturally to charge a fee."

(End of this chapter)