It's normal to develop some black technology in the future, right?

Chapter 383 Boeing's Little Thoughts

Opponents of the theory of American decline will use SpaceX's progress in the aviation industry to prove that it's not that America is incapable of manufacturing, but that traditional manufacturing has too low profit margins and lacks imagination, so America simply doesn't want to play the game.

Supporters of the American recession theory will use the fact that Boeing is failing in all aspects, including its passenger planes, space shuttles, and even its stock performance, to prove that American is indeed in recession. If it can't even maintain its aircraft manufacturing industry with such a high profit margin, then if this is not a recession, then what is?

Boeing is not only a manufacturer of passenger aircraft, they also manufacture military aircraft, missiles, rockets, etc. American airlines buy aircraft from Boeing, and American-led international organizations also buy aircraft from Boeing.

A country like Israel, which has a conjugate father-son relationship with America, has been spending big on purchasing ammunition from Boeing. In the three years from 2021 to 2023, it was Boeing, not Lockheed Martin, that delivered the most guided missiles and ammunition to Israel.

It can be said that as the eldest son of the American manufacturing industry and one of the banners of the American manufacturing industry, no matter whether the Donald Trump Party or the Elephant Party is in the White House, they will spare no effort in supporting Boeing.

Whether supporters or opponents of America, everyone agrees that Boeing is not doing well.

The White House has given Boeing full support in the past, so now it is Boeing's turn to contribute to America.

There are old and new space shuttles, and American must also have one, and this important task is given to Boeing. Fifty billion US dollars, even in today's declining purchasing power of the US dollar, is not a small amount in any case.

The XCOR mentioned by NASA officials is a company focused on the research and development of aerospace planes. It was founded in 1999 and went bankrupt in 2017. After the bankruptcy, all technical data belonged to the science popularization association affiliated with NASA.

Although XCOR's end was not good, their technological heritage is still quite valuable if they want to develop aerospace planes. In the past, they developed the first aircraft in history to use rocket engines as a power source.

In the 18 years of XCOR's operation, the cost of research and development will not exceed US$2 million.

In addition, America had a space plane in the past, but the commercial value of that space plane was not high. In short, it is not a case of Boeing starting from scratch. On the contrary, America has sufficient technical reserves in aerospace planes.

In the view of NASA officials, with $500 billion and the foundation already laid by XCOR, it is not impossible to develop an aerospace passenger plane.

As the current CEO of Boeing, David's first reaction was, "Huh? Can Boeing do it?"

He has been the CEO of Boeing for more than five years. He is very aware of Boeing's current problems, which are long-standing problems that are difficult to cure. The development of ordinary large passenger aircraft has been difficult and repeatedly delayed, let alone the development of space passenger aircraft. Isn't this a joke.

If Boeing could have built the spaceliner by spending $50 billion, it wouldn't have ended up in this situation today.

This is what David thought, but he certainly wouldn't say it verbally:

"That's absolutely no problem. Boeing is confident that it can complete the development of the space plane within five years.

At this moment, Boeing has the obligation and mission to shoulder this responsibility."

After listening to this, Musk cursed in his heart, saying, "It's strange you can do it."

After taking another look and listening to the White House executives who nodded repeatedly, Musk knew that David's words had touched the minds of these guys who had no discernment, as they were just about to include $50 billion in the budget and allocate it to Boeing.

He knew without thinking what Boeing was planning, or what David was planning.

Just like NASA’s space launch missions in the past, Boeing didn’t care whether it could complete it or not, it just took the order first and then drove up its market value.

As for whether the work can be completed with the federal budget of 50 billion US dollars, David will no longer be the CEO of Boeing by that time. Even if it cannot be completed, there will only be a round of audit to prove that everyone is fine.

If the difficulty of developing an aerospace passenger aircraft is exaggerated, as long as Airbus fails to develop it, Boeing can easily get through, and can even get a huge amount of funds from the federal government on the grounds that the difficulty of development is too great.

If you kill two birds with one stone, your final output will be zero.

“What I want to say is that if we don’t achieve a breakthrough in room-temperature superconducting technology or other basic materials, it will be impossible for us to manufacture aerospace passenger aircraft that can be used commercially on a large scale using existing materials.

The final result is nothing more than a two-stage separation, and the aerospace plane still needs to rely on the rocket to give it initial speed. China's Changkong aerospace passenger plane can carry 50 people, while our aerospace passenger plane can only carry two passengers.

To go from New York to Paris, you need to transport the rocket to Paris by large plane before you can complete a round trip, and there is no commercial value in developing it. "Musk wants to do something.

At least we can't just watch the federal research and development funds go to waste by giving them to Boeing.

At least skipping stones on water will make some noise, but the Boeing was like hitting the water without even making a splash.

"If we must develop an aerospace airliner, we might as well negotiate with China and develop a similar aerospace airliner by relying on China's aerospace airliner launch device.

If China wants to promote their space passenger aircraft globally, it will inevitably involve deploying their room-temperature superconducting launch devices around the world.

Without the White House's permission, they cannot deploy the device to America and our allies. We can try to take advantage of this and apply to China to share their aerospace airliner launch devices.

Our space shuttle also relies on China's room-temperature superconducting launcher to provide the initial speed. This is the only way to complete the development of space shuttle under the current conditions."

Musk has proposed a new solution. Over the past year, cooperation between America and China has increased.

Musk doesn't see a problem with continuing to increase such collaborations.

To add to the persuasiveness, Musk went on to say: “This is also about preparing for the future.

In the future, once American's scientific research institutions achieve a breakthrough in room-temperature superconducting technology, we can launch related applications as soon as possible.

Replace Chinese equipment with American-made ones.

In the past, China did not develop high-end chips, but Chinese smartphones are all over the world. Now that we have not developed room-temperature superconductors, we can also use Chinese technology to launch our own space shuttle."

David immediately said, "I disagree with Elon's view that Boeing cannot develop an aerospace airliner. He underestimates Boeing's strong R&D capabilities."

The NASA official sitting next to Musk couldn't help laughing. "Sorry." He covered his mouth, but an obvious smile could still be seen in his eyes.

We usually don't laugh unless we really can't hold it back.

David's words really made the experts unable to hold back. If you could really make the space passenger plane, you wouldn't have to let the astronauts celebrate the New Year on the space station.

David glanced at the NASA official and continued, "This is the quality of Boeing's CEO. It is precisely because of this quality that he was able to remain calm at the hearing and insist that Boeing can do it:
"But Elon's proposal to cooperate with China and develop space airliners using China's room-temperature superconducting launchers is very good. We need to face up to the reality that we lag behind China in a few key technology areas. Cooperation with China can indeed greatly increase the commercial value of future space airliners developed by Boeing.

I think we can definitely cooperate with China." The only thing we need to worry about is whether China is willing to cooperate with America in this regard.

Soon, the American envoy flew directly to Yanjing with the news that he hoped to reach a cooperation with China on the room-temperature superconducting launch device, and expressed his hope to cooperate with China. If China agreed to cooperate, it goes without saying that the relevant technology licensing fees would be paid. Moreover, with the assistance of American, the time for the Changkong aerospace airliner to obtain its airworthiness certificate from major countries around the world could be greatly advanced.

For commercial use, passenger aircraft need an airworthiness certificate. For domestic flights, they only need a domestic airworthiness certificate, but for passenger aircraft like aerospace planes that are specifically designed for ultra-long-distance flights, they must obtain an airworthiness certificate from the corresponding country. For example, the domestically produced large aircraft C919 has been unable to obtain the approval of the European Space Safety Agency and has not been able to obtain an airworthiness certificate from the European Union.

Moreover, in order to protect the interests of Airbus, Europe will delay the C919's airworthiness certificate as long as possible.

The problems that C919 will face will also be faced by Changkong. The bargaining chip given by American is that they can solve this problem.

Before the negotiations, the mainstream media in America had already released the news.

"America will cooperate with China in the field of aerospace planes"

"Boeing will develop a space plane based on China's room-temperature superconducting launch device"

"Boeing will use the space plane to narrow the gap with Airbus"

The hype from the mainstream media caused Boeing’s stock price to surge by more than 10 points. Boeing’s stock price had been sluggish for too long in the past, so this level of positive news was like a shot in the arm, and the effect was almost immediate.

Wall Street is hyping it up, the White House is directing and acting out the show, and Boeing truly believes that they can make the space shuttle by cooperating with China.

It’s just that the Chinese don’t believe it.

"China looks forward to cooperating with America in more areas, but we are unable to reach a cooperation on the room-temperature superconducting launch device."

"COMAC's Changkong space airliner will not consider entering the American market for the time being."

During the negotiations with America, China's attitude was clear and unambiguous.

To put it simply, there is nothing to discuss.

Even outsiders who were not involved in the negotiations could see it clearly.

"For the Chinese, there is no room for negotiation at all," Lin Jia said during a casual chat. "Why can't the other side understand this problem?"

China also sought Chen Yuanguang's opinion before the negotiations, and Chen Yuanguang's view was consistent with China's, "Yes, it is difficult to cooperate on such dual-use military and civilian equipment.

If Boeing wants to develop an aerospace passenger aircraft based on a room-temperature superconducting launch device, then Frontier Technology must provide Boeing with the corresponding device.

Provide it to them, no one knows whether they are developing aerospace passenger aircraft or intercontinental missiles.

If the goal is to develop intercontinental missiles, then in wartime, America will directly requisition the room-temperature superconducting launch devices at major airports to launch missiles.

This is undoubtedly a major threat to China.

America would certainly not be able to accept this, so we sent people to supervise and deeply participate in the development of Boeing's space airliner to ensure that the research and development content was limited to the civilian scope.

Ultimately, it’s because the mutual trust between the two sides is too low.”

Lin Jia shook her head. In her opinion, Chen Yuanguang didn't know America well enough, or he thought too highly of her.

"Yuan Guang, what you said is what everyone can think of, but you haven't thought of a worse possibility.

Have you ever thought that with Boeing's current strength, can it develop an aerospace passenger plane? Even if there is a room-temperature superconducting launch device to provide the initial speed.

Their research and development was unsuccessful, and then several launches failed, either exploding in the air or falling directly, and then they put the blame on you, saying that this technical route is immature.

Even our Changkong space passenger plane was empty.

Boeing used self-debasement as a means to get America's global public opinion machine into action, casting doubt on the safety of the space airliner in the public opinion field. If America can't handle the space airliner, don't even think about promoting it on a large scale even if you can.

What's the point of getting an airworthiness certificate? Even if you get an airworthiness certificate, it can still make passengers afraid to board.

It's a win-win situation for America. If you develop it, we can compete head-on. If you can't, then you can forget about playing.

Therefore, no matter what the consideration is, it is impossible to cooperate with American in this regard."

"You are more thoughtful." Chen Yuanguang said with emotion.

Lin Jia explained: “It’s not that I think it’s more thoughtful, but the reality is like this.

When I was the vice president of Xiaomi Auto, I heard a lot of related business war cases. Before Apple developed folding screens, folding screens were backward technology, bloated and bulky, with obvious creases on the screen. Even though folding screen technology matured later, these problems have been greatly improved.

However, in terms of public opinion, foldable screens are still a niche product. After Apple also made foldable screens, you almost never see mainstream voices on the Internet discussing the shortcomings of foldable screens.

If America did not master the technical route of Changkong, then their suppression would at most be at the public opinion level, and they would use various covert methods to prove that the aerospace airliner is not feasible.

But through multiple launches, there will always be people who will experience it, and time will prove that the aerospace plane is indeed safe and reliable.

If Boeing is allowed to develop an aerospace passenger aircraft following the same technical route as Changkong, it will bomb you a few times and then repeatedly post the explosion videos on global social media to deepen the public impact. Once it is planted in the public mind, it cannot be easily reversed over time.

Therefore, no matter from what angle, it is impossible to negotiate with America on the room-temperature superconducting launch device.

I even think that for a long time, this thing can only be used on Chinese flights to Africa, and it can be regarded as China's technological export.

If people from Europe and the United States want to experience this, we can arrange for them to travel to China first, with a 144-hour transit visa, so they can have fun in Shanghai, and then fly directly to Africa to continue their travels.”

(End of this chapter)