Reborn: Billionaire in College

Huzhou Expressway Toll Station.

Xu Rui and Peng Xiaobo had already been waiting at the intersection.

"Didn't we agree to arrive at 10:11? It's almost o'clock now. Do you want to make a phone call and ask?" Peng Xiaobo urged after checking the time.

Xu Rui waved his hand: "How can I call if the leader didn't call to ask? Don't worry, at most he took a break at the service area or was stuck in traffic."

"Mr. Xu, can I ask the canteen to open dinner later?" Secretary Liu Xiao came over and asked in a low voice.

Xu Rui shook his head: "Don't delay everyone's meal, let the canteen open for dinner as usual, I will take Director Chen to eat authentic Huzhou cuisine later."

Every item in the schedule for receiving the leader is very full, and if there is any mistake, the subsequent work will be postponed.

This was the first time that Chen Pingjiang visited the hot test center in Huzhou. Xu Rui wanted to do a good job in reception so as to demonstrate his coordination skills and show off in front of the leader.

"Should we postpone the test run in the afternoon?" Peng Xiaobo asked with a frown.

When the big boss comes to inspect, he naturally has to go to the company to hold a meeting and speak, and chat with the employees. Peng Xiaobo was afraid that he would not have enough time.

As soon as he said this, Xu Rui laughed: "It's been a long time since you left the public sector, but you still have the same mindset. We are a private enterprise, and everything is about efficiency."

The purpose of Chen Pingjiang's visit this time is to inspect the Huzhou Thermal Test Center and conduct engine tests on the Galaxy No. 1 liquid oxygen-methane engine.

Over the past year or so, Galaxy Aerospace has developed particularly rapidly with the right funding, personnel and policies in place.

The speed was so fast that Peng Xiaobo, who had been in the industry for more than ten years, couldn't react.

Many tasks may take a week to complete in state-owned enterprises, but at Galaxy Aerospace it only takes one day.

This also made him truly appreciate the vitality of private enterprises.

In addition, Galaxy Aerospace recruits industry leaders who all have technical backgrounds, so work progresses quite quickly.

Just 14 months after the engine project was launched, ground tests are about to begin!

At the same time, the overall design of the rocket has been completed and has now entered the stage of division of labor.

This includes the development of the power system, that is, the rocket engine, the control system, the structural system, the electrical system and the telemetry system.

After the subsystems are developed, the prototype manufacturing and testing will begin. The final step is flight testing, which verifies the basic performance and orbital capability of the rocket. After data optimization, mass production will be carried out uniformly, and supply chain management and cost control will be introduced.

"Here it comes, is that the car?"

"This is it!"

After the reception crowd exclaimed, they saw a black luxury MPV driving out of the toll station.

After seeing the crowd, the MPV quickly pulled over.

As soon as the MPV stopped, Xu Rui and Peng Xiaobo trotted over.

The car door opened from the inside, and Chen Pingjiang, who was sitting in the boss's seat, was resting with the door closed.

"Mr. Chen!"

"Hello, Mr. Chen."

After a while, Chen Pingjiang opened his eyes, nodded at the two of them, and waved his hand for them to get in the car.

The convoy restarted and headed towards the hot test center.

Having not seen Chen Pingjiang for nearly a year, Xu Rui was so excited that he could not hide his feelings, and his breathing became slightly rapid.

Luo Wentao, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was looking at his "ex" in the rearview mirror.

It was a wonderful feeling, but it was also enough to make Luo Wentao envious.

It is a huge leap for a commoner to become the head of one of the country's leading commercial aerospace companies.

Although the two met and communicated when they were handing over their work, that was last year.

After just one year of not seeing each other, Xu Rui has obviously become calmer and more dignified.

"Mr. Chen, can I introduce you to our thermal test center?" Xu Rui rubbed his hands and smiled.

Chen Pingjiang nodded: "Okay, let me also hear about your company's achievements over the past year."

"Huzhou used to be the 1970 liquid rocket engine test bench, which was completed in 3. At that time, it was an important infrastructure for China's early aerospace industry. The engine hot tests of the Long March 4 and Long March 200 launch vehicles were all tested here. This time, the Galaxy engine will undergo a -second test. If successful, it will be the first large-thrust liquid oxygen-methane engine in China to complete a full system test and assessment, which can be considered a breakthrough from scratch."

"In the next few months, we will repeatedly verify the engine startup and shutdown sequence and the stability of the main stage operating conditions. We will conduct a 500-second full-system long-range test, a 500-second secondary startup long-range test, and a 200-second large-range continuous variable thrust long-range test. The secondary startup long-range test is the key technology for the vertical recovery of the rocket, and the large-range continuous variable thrust test is to verify the thrust regulation system."

"Our Galaxy engine is non-toxic and environmentally friendly, highly reliable, high-performance, low-cost, easy to operate, and reusable, representing the development direction of aerospace main propulsion technology. Its ground thrust is 67 tons, its vacuum thrust is 76 tons, and the vacuum thrust of the vacuum type engine can reach 80 tons."

……

Listening to Xu Rui's introduction, Chen Pingjiang's mood suddenly improved. At least this group of people did not let his investment go to waste and really made some achievements.

Although the current achievements are still far from those of SpaceX, at least it is on the right track.

Although Chen Pingjiang is a layman, the people he found are awesome.

Musk doesn't understand rockets either, and he still can't take the Falcon 9 into space.

Therefore, Chen Pingjiang was not surprised that the rocket engine was designed and tested so quickly. In a few years, wouldn’t most of the domestic commercial rocket companies that have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain have sent rockets into space?
If they can, why can't Chen Pingjiang?

Not to mention that they have much more funds and a much stronger team than those small companies.

"Old Peng, your team has done a good job. It's much faster than Zhang Xiaoping's team, but we still can't let our guard down. It won't take long for Zhang Xiaoping to come up with an engine with better parameters."

The two rocket propulsion research centers in Jingcheng and Anxi are competing with each other to come up with specific plans earlier and gain the right to speak within the company.

"Haha, don't worry, Director Chen. We will move faster and faster. We will definitely not let the people from Anxi overtake us." Peng Xiaobo promised, patting his chest.

"Boss Chen, it's almost time for dinner. I know a good farm-style restaurant. Shall we go try it?"

Chen Pingjiang waved his hand and said, "No need. We already had breakfast this morning and we're not hungry now. Let's go straight to the test bench. By the way, if you and Lao Peng are hungry, go eat and don't worry about us."

Having said that, if the leader didn't want to eat, how could Xu Rui dare to cook for himself secretly? He quickly shook his head and smiled, "Then let's do it later. I'm not too hungry." The convoy drove along the Huzhou ring road and soon entered a sparsely populated area.

The site selection for aerospace engine test benches is quite particular.

The location of the test bench is generally required to be away from places where people gather, such as office areas and residential areas, in order to avoid or reduce noise interference.

In addition, it has extremely high requirements for the surrounding environment. There must be no pollution sources and strong magnetic fields. It should be arranged in the downwind direction of factory and residential areas all year round.

Beyond just these, there is a list of stringent requirements.

Based on the above reasons, the Huzhou Thermal Test Center was built at the foot of a mountain in the wilderness, surrounded by nothing but barren mountains.

When the motorcade arrived, all the staff had already lined up in the large square below the office building to welcome them.

Chen Pingjiang shook hands cordially with every employee, and then put on the safety helmet handed to him by Xu Rui.

The test bench consists of a 12-story building and test facilities.

Usually the engine test bench includes several parts such as test room, load-bearing piers, guide trough, measurement and control center, measurement and control system, test frame, etc. The test frame is used to bear the entire mass of the engine and its accessories and transmit thrust.

The "test run" of a rocket engine is carried out by installing the engine on a test bench. That is, the engine or its assembly is installed on the test bench. Under the working conditions and simulated environment provided by the various process systems of the test bench, the engine or assembly completes the required work according to the predetermined procedure, thereby verifying the feasibility of the design, the reliability of the process, and the methods of assessment, inspection and debugging through ground tests, and evaluating the quality and performance of the engine and assemblies, which plays a vital role in the development of rocket engines.

As the core of the spacecraft power plant, the aerospace engine needs to adapt to complex and harsh working environments, so it is a sensitive and fault-prone place. Once a problem occurs during flight, the spacecraft will lose power, which may result in failure to complete the mission or even a tragedy. Therefore, before any spacecraft engine is officially put into use, it must pass various tests to fully understand its performance, function, strength, reliability, etc., so that it can be used safely, effectively and reasonably.

Chen Pingjiang has emphasized many times that although efficiency is the top priority, safety is also important.

He is not afraid of failure, but he has to admit that as the first commercial rocket company in the country, it has attracted everyone's attention.

If I fail, it will greatly undermine the confidence of the people, and then the public intellectuals and bigwigs will come out to ridicule me.

Peng Xiaobo, the chief designer of the Galaxy engine, accompanied Chen Pingjiang on the tour and introduced: "Aerospace engines are comprehensive system engineering, involving multidisciplinary knowledge fields, including aerodynamics, engineering thermal physics, heat and mass transfer, mechanics, strength, transmission, sealing, electronics and automatic control. At the same time, the aerodynamic, thermal and structural material characteristics inside the engine are very complex, and so far they cannot be solved through detailed and accurate theoretical descriptions. They can only be exposed and hidden dangers can be checked through continuous experiments."

"Therefore, engine test becomes particularly important. There are dozens of types, which will run through all stages before and after the engine development. The test at each stage has different significance, and the ignition time ranges from a few seconds to hundreds of seconds."

"Mr. Chen, look. These are two subsystems, the oxidant supply subsystem and the fuel supply subsystem, which are the power sources of the engine. Each subsystem includes a pressurization system, a fluid system, a purge system, and an exhaust system."

Peng Xiaobo pointed to two huge pipes and introduced: "There are various pressure sensors inside, which are used to detect the pressure and thrust of the engine. The thrust size and its change over time characterize the performance of the rocket engine. This indicator directly affects the range and flight characteristics of the rocket. By converting it, we can know the average thrust, total impulse, specific impulse and other data."

After hearing everyone's introduction, Chen Pingjiang walked around the test bench with great interest.

Although he is a businessman, he is also interested in machinery, or perhaps boys are naturally interested in these things.

What's more, this also represents the cutting-edge technology of this era and is the prologue to the sea of ​​stars.

"Mr. Chen, the preparations have been completed. Please move to the measurement and control hall. We will conduct a hot test in fifteen minutes."

Chen Pingjiang nodded, and under Xu Rui's arrangement, he took the elevator to the measurement and control hall on the seventh floor.

After the renovation, this measurement and control hall has been fully digitized and intelligentized, and it is also supported by Pangu AI technology.

In the wide hall, at the front was a large display screen, on which cameras from all angles recorded the actual footage of the test site. Surrounding the actual footage was a series of densely packed digital indicators, in blue and green, which made Chen Pingjiang's eyes blurry.

Next to the large display screen are two secondary screens, and below are rows of computers. Currently, the computers are already filled with staff members wearing gray work clothes.

"Countdown is five minutes, all units please pay attention to data checking." After greeting Chen Pingjiang, Peng Xiaobo walked to his seat, picked up the walkie-talkie and gave instructions to everyone.

"One minute left, on-site staff evacuate to a safe area." The order was issued again.

Chen Pingjiang, who was sitting in a chair and witnessing everything, felt a little nervous for no reason. After the nervousness, he felt a sense of pride in his chest.

It was an indescribable emotion. He seemed to see a scene in the future where a rocket named after himself would rush out of the earth and break through the sky.

"5!"

"4!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"ignition!"

As Peng Xiaobo gave the order and the staff pressed the button, a loud explosion-like noise came from outside. Even though many soundproofing facilities were installed in the measurement and control hall, it could not be avoided.

Chen Pingjiang could even feel the ground shaking slightly.

On the monitoring screen, the camera clearly recorded everything after shaking.

The tail of the "Galaxy" 80-ton liquid oxygen-methane engine ejects blue and orange flames...

The atmosphere in the control room was extremely tense at the moment. No one was talking, only the various data on the monitoring equipment were jumping in real time...

After a short but extremely tense 20 seconds!
When the "Bank" engine ejected the last line of flame and stopped working, there was a warm applause in the measurement and control hall. The researchers hugged each other, shared the joy of success and celebrated this wonderful moment.

Chen Pingjiang also stood up and couldn't help but applaud.

You can't reach a thousand miles without taking small steps.

Although these 20 seconds are short, they provide the foundation and confidence for subsequent research and development, and their significance is extraordinary.

"The experiment was very successful! Thank you for your hard work!"

Peng Xiaobo's voice came from the loudspeaker at the scene.

Xu Rui also leaned over and said, "Director Chen, at this special moment, please say a few words to encourage everyone."

Chen Pingjiang smiled and nodded and said yes.

When everyone's eyes were focused on him, Chen Pingjiang picked up the intercom and said with a smile: "I have seen everyone's performance. It is very, very good. We have achieved a breakthrough in China. I also hope that you will continue to work hard and bring better performance in subsequent tests. I won't say more. This month, the salary of everyone present will be doubled."

"Oh, long live!" (End of this chapter)