This star is going to the moon

Chapter 366 First, destroy America's space tourism, then destroy America's global Starlink (4000 words)
American, late at night, NASA.

The space intelligence conference room between Laos and China.

This conference room was filled with elites from all walks of life in the United States, including people from aerospace, military, intelligence and other departments, as well as real-time interpreters.

They watched the official live stream of the Zhuhai Airshow with even more care than Chinese netizens, not missing a single detail.

The official NASA press conference ended close to noon, while it was nearly midnight in the NASA conference room. So, after watching the live stream, they took a short break and ate some pizza delivered by food delivery before continuing their meeting.

Of course, an assistant quickly organized and summarized the press conference during the event.

"Things are getting bad, guys, they're too fast."

"Actually, we expected the 'Starry Sky' constellation to be open for trial use. After all, we have statistics for each launch, and it is no problem to open nearly 700 satellites for trial use."

"Yes, the Star constellation has nearly 700 satellites in orbit, while Starlink has more than 800. For these two satellites with deployment numbers approaching 1000, a difference of 100 satellites has little impact, not to mention that their final numbers are both over 10,000."

"Based on analysis of various publicly available data, Xingdou satellites are more advanced than Starlink, equivalent to the 1.5 version of Starlink satellites currently under development. So despite the large number of Starlink satellites, Xingdou is actually more advanced in terms of functionality."

"That's right, because the StarDou satellite uses inter-satellite laser link transmission technology, which is not only faster but also more resistant to interference."

"The limited number of satellites is only temporary. China is the world's strongest industrial nation today. The production speed of both satellites and rockets is increasing dramatically, and the launch frequency is already rising."

"Moreover, Lu Yun also said that the Long March 10 rocket will make its maiden flight next February. Its reusable carrying capacity is more than 40% greater than that of the Falcon 9. The Falcon 9 can carry 60 Starlink satellites at a time, while the Long March 10 can carry 80 Starlink satellites at a time!"

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere in the conference room fell silent, and everyone felt somewhat helpless.

Some people even felt toothache and were thinking about having to make an appointment with their private dentist after the conference.

China and Laos have such strong industrial capabilities, with large production volumes and powerful rockets. I can't even imagine what the combined effect would be.

These are merely the "results," while the underlying "reason" is that China's advanced technologies have caught up with, and even surpassed, those of the Federation.

This is a very serious problem.

After all, as long as Chinese people enter any field with advanced technology, the products in that field will become "donut-priced".

The previous commercial space tourism business was that Elon Musk's space tourism ticket cost $5500 million, while Louis Louren's ticket cost $150 million.

It directly killed Elon Musk's "Crew Dragon" space tourism business.

Currently, the Crew Dragon can only secure contracts from NASA for manned spaceflight to the International Space Station; it is virtually impossible for it to obtain contracts for commercial space tourism.

Unless there are special reasons why you cannot ride in Lu Yun's "Wooden Kite" space shuttle.

Or perhaps it's some kind of extreme fanaticism, fixated solely on the Federation's democratic and free manned spaceship.

For example, the rumor that the first space tourism order for the "Cyber ​​Dragon" was cancelled was indeed false.

Although the comparison of 5500 million for a ticket to the "Manned Dragon" train to 150 million is indeed too abstract.

It is also impossible to reduce the ticket price of the "Manned Dragon" to 150 million.

It's not even enough to cover the gas money!
But the customer just wouldn't refund the ticket.

Because he didn't just go on a space tourism trip; he had other purposes.

So he didn't just buy one space tourism ticket; he booked all four, spending over two hundred million US dollars in total!

The four tickets were purchased by Jared Isaacman, a 36-year-old billionaire and the owner of a well-known online payment processing company in the United States.

The space tourism project he participated in, the first purely commercial, non-professional astronaut space tourism project on the Crew Dragon spacecraft, is called "Inspiration 4" and aims to raise at least $2 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

The four seats that Isaacman bought represent leadership, hope, generosity, and prosperity. Apart from the "leadership" seat that he himself represents, the other three seats were donated to the federal public.

After searching, Aseno, a physician assistant at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, was granted the "Hope" seat.

When Arsenal was 10 years old, she had part of her femur removed during treatment for bone cancer. As a result, a titanium alloy artificial bone was implanted in her left thigh bone. Next year, at the age of 29, she will become the youngest Confederate to enter orbit.

The other two seats are for those who create an online store through a platform provided by Isaacman's payment company and post their business stories on Twitter, and can compete for the "Prosperity" seat.

Another option is for people who donate at least $10 to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital within a specified time to have a chance to win a "generous" seat in a raffle.

Ultimately, geographer Shian Proctor received the "prosperity" seat.

Aerospace engineer Chris Sembrowski was the recipient of the "generous" seat, but the actual winner was someone else who gave up the seat to Chris Sembrowski.

According to media reports, of the $2 million fundraising goal, $1 million will be donated by Isaacman, and the remaining $1 million will be raised through various means.

However, they have only raised $1000 million so far, which is a long way from the $1 million goal, and it is very likely that they will not be able to achieve the fundraising goal.

Fortunately, the event organizers had anticipated this problem, so the spacecraft carried souvenirs and artworks when it went into space. These items will be auctioned off after they return to Earth to continue raising funds.

Isaacman did this for two reasons: first, to reduce the company's taxes through donations; and second, to gain political prestige for himself.

Yes, like Ma Yilong, he also wants to improve.

However, Lu Yun was well aware of his future situation.

He will successfully enter space next year, and even went to space again in 2002 or 2004, where he also performed a spacewalk as a non-professional astronaut.

This also helped him accumulate more experience.

So, on Old Ma's recommendation, who was singing "a little song of progress," he was nominated to be the director of NASA.

Unfortunately, Marx and Trump later fell out, and his nomination was withdrawn.

However, they have no idea about the future. They only believe that under the leadership of the new President Dennis, the Federation will prosper!
But the Chinese first targeted the Federation's commercial space tourism, and now they've targeted Starlink space internet, putting them in a very difficult position.

"Most importantly, if commercial space tourism only affects commerce, whether it's SpaceX or the entire Federation's space commerce, the attack on Starlink would significantly impact the Federation's hegemony!"

"Yes, judging from the wars between Azerbaijan and Armenia, drones will have a significant impact on future low-intensity conflicts, and how to ensure the attack effectiveness of drones while reducing costs is a problem that all parties need to consider."

"At first, we were quite surprised to find that Starlink could guarantee secure communication for inexpensive drones. Once it was put into global use, the control range could be expanded to the whole world, especially if there were receivers in the local area. But then the Chinese Starlink came in."

"The key issue is that Starlink is too cheap. If it also becomes available globally, Starlink simply won't sell, which will have a huge impact on our global plans!"

"But there's nothing we can do about it. Starlink's antenna terminals are so cheap. Starlink terminals cost $500, plus a $100 monthly fee, while Starlink terminals are less than $100, and with the monthly fee, the total cost is just over $100. Anyone with common sense knows which to choose." "Perhaps we could use tariffs to force Starlink to raise its price?"

“Buddy, the tariffs only increase the price of Stardust in the Federation, but Stardust was never going to be sold in the Federation in the first place, and we can’t control the tariffs of other countries.”

"Although we cannot directly control them, we can exert pressure."

"No, the election is over. The old man from the Democratic Party has come to power. In the previous four years, Trump had a very strained relationship with the allies. Now that the old man has come to power, he will definitely have to ease the relationship with the allies. There is no way to put pressure on them."

"Sigh, there's nothing we can do about it then. Let old Deng worry about it. We just need to finish the report and put it on his desk after the handover in January..."

The people in the conference room have been keeping a close eye on Lao Zhong and Lu Yun for a long time. From their initial indifference and belief that "the advantage is in my hands," they are now extremely exhausted.

China and Laos are undisputed industrial manufacturing powerhouses. Last year, their industrial output accounted for about 28.1% of the global industrial output. This year, various statistical agencies estimate that it could reach 30%, which is an extremely alarming proportion.

Previous analysis suggested that China simply lacked sufficient and advanced cutting-edge technologies. However, China is now rapidly catching up on its technological shortcomings, particularly in the aerospace field, where it has been developing at an astonishing pace. This is causing the Federation considerable distress.

If things continue like this, will the Federation really slip to second place in the world?

The people in the conference room were silent for a moment, then someone suddenly said, "Is there anything in the Federation that absolutely surpasses the Chinese?"

Upon hearing this question, everyone else began to think about it.

The strongest forces within the Federation would undoubtedly be the various "complexes".

The military-industrial complex is the first to be affected. Although the Federation has 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, it has been surpassed by China in the field of large destroyers.

Furthermore, China's missile technology is very advanced.

Therefore, the Federation is not guaranteed victory militarily.

As for the space complex, it goes without saying that although only the Federation has carried out manned lunar landing missions so far, it's really hard to say who will come first in the second manned lunar landing race.

Furthermore, aerospace encompasses many fields, with lunar landing being just one of them. Currently, China holds an absolute leading position in the field of manned spaceflight.

As for the others... pharmaceutical conglomerates!

"The Federation is absolutely leading in pharmaceuticals, and we have many advantages in biopharmaceuticals, after all, we..."

After all, the federal government has the advantage of low human rights, allowing it to use people for drug trials at will, and even cross ethical boundaries.

Leaving aside privately sponsored medical laboratories, Fort Detrick Biochemical Laboratory has done quite a few of these kinds of things.

The third brother also has an advantage in this regard; he can also freely recruit people to test the drugs.

However, since India lacks technological advantages, it can only produce generic drugs.

After confirming that they still had an absolute advantage in certain areas, the people in the meeting room relaxed considerably.

In the future, the Federation will definitely catch up with China in other fields, but it will always lead in the medical field.

Despite their accusations that the Chinese are "violating human rights" every day, in terms of "high human rights standards," the Chinese are definitely higher than the federal government. This means that the Chinese cannot freely develop the pharmaceutical industry.

After all, many things related to healthcare that are permitted in Western "civilized" countries are not permitted in China.

For example, tobacco leaf, organ trading, gene editing, surrogacy, etc.

If the Federation were to develop a drug to cure cancer or some life-extending drug, the world would be completely ruled by the Federation.

After all, the rulers and leaders of various countries are not young anymore.

Even if you are young now, you will eventually grow old.

The reason they are so confident that the federal government can develop a life-extending drug is that the federal government's behind-the-scenes power holders are all elderly people, and these elderly "power monsters" have been funding related research for many years.

The people in this conference room are not figures at the core of power and do not know much, but according to some rumors, it seems that a breakthrough in life-extending drugs will be achieved in the next few years.

I wonder what the world will be like then?
………………

Laos and Chinese, Zhuhai Airshow.

At lunchtime, viewers and netizens ate while digesting the information, browsing various news articles, and chatting with people in the comments section.

There were quite a few big news stories today, with seven or eight trending topics related to Lu Yun alone.

There's no way around it; Lu Yun is an absolute top star in both the aerospace and entertainment industries.

It's foreseeable that the Lu Yunkai Commercial Space Tourism Launch Event will generate even more buzz on social media this afternoon.

In particular, he will announce the sale of space tourism tickets at the airshow.

Today's Weibo trending topics are really interesting. There are hardly any entertainment celebrities trending; it's all about military, technology, and aerospace.

[Who says there isn't? Lu Yun is an entertainment star, how can you ruin an opportunity for yourself to gain prestige in the entertainment industry!]

Haha, those popular celebrities are probably green with envy.

I did see a trending topic about a celebrity getting injured while filming without a stunt double, but it only lasted less than ten minutes. I guess that celebrity was already cursing behind their back.

[It might not be in private; maybe they're using a secondary account to publicly hurl insults in the public square, we just don't know it.]

Hey, it's hard to say. I'll go look for it; maybe I can open the box for that celebrity.

Holy crap, a box!

[Actually, jealousy and envy only arise when the difference between celebrities is not significant. If the difference is too great, there's no such thing. The gap between those popular celebrities and Lu Yun is like the difference between the Qi Refining stage and the Nascent Soul stage—there's simply no fertile ground for jealousy and envy.]

Who cares about their nonsense? Blue Star Aerospace's press conference is about to start, and I can't wait to grab tickets. I want to go on a space tour!

Wow, Principal Wang!

Oh, wasn't he subject to spending restrictions?

(End of this chapter)