This star is going to the moon

Chapter 542: Problems of development will be solved through development; test signals encounter congestion at Ritai Institute.

There is success as well as failure.

The day before, the world was still discussing the massive explosion of Elon Musk's super rocket.

The next day, news of Laos and China successfully launching a new "Starry Sky" satellite that can directly connect to mobile phones became a trending topic worldwide.

Coincidentally, one of the core missions of Elon Musk's Super Falcon rocket is to launch second-generation Starlink satellites, which are also large satellites that can directly connect to mobile phones.

However, the failure of the Super Falcon rocket's maiden flight shattered the dream of rapid deployment of the second-generation Starlink satellites.

Everyone now knows that the development of the Super Falcon is not easy, and it is very difficult to succeed. Nobody knows when it will be officially available for use.

So when people realized that the Americans weren't coming up with anything new, their attention turned to the Chinese.

Then they noticed the Chinese and Laos's "Starry Sky" space internet constellation update plan.

With the successful launch of a bare Long March 10 rocket equipped with a 7-meter diameter fairing, the first generation of 30 "Starry Sky" constellation node satellites were deployed into space orbit.

The difference between a node star and a child star is very large. The core difference is whether it can directly connect to a regular smartphone. To achieve this, a node star is much larger than a child star.

For example, the mass of a sub-star is 300 kg, while the mass of a nodal star is 800 kg.

The satellite body of the sub-star is 3 meters long, and the solar array has a deployed length of 11 meters.

The satellite of the node star is 5.8 meters long, and the solar panels have been changed to two, with a total unfolded length of 30 meters!
(Illustrative diagram)

The massive node satellite is beyond the range of Wanhu rockets; its maximum 5-meter diameter fairing is only capable of launching sub-satellites.

This is one of the reasons why the node star is only now being revealed.

Because the Long March 10 rocket, with a core stage diameter of 5 meters, can use a large fairing with a diameter of 7 meters to accommodate a satellite 5.8 meters long.

Although the difference between 5.8 meters and 5 meters may not seem like a big deal, fitting the satellite payload into the fairing is not a simple matter.

After all, the fairing itself has thickness, and the satellite payload needs to maintain a safe distance from the fairing, and cannot be placed too close to it.

Leave some space here, leave some space there. Considering the circular structure of the fairing, the satellite cannot be designed as a conventional square, but must be chamfered to become an octagon.

With a mass of 800 kilograms, the basic Long March 10 rocket, with a recovery capacity of 25 tons, could only be stacked up to a maximum of 30 rockets.

This is reminiscent of Wan Hu's "little rocket" launching a satellite.

The basic Long March 10 satellite launcher can launch 80 satellites at a time!
To launch nodal satellites quickly, we need to learn from Elon Musk.

Use the super rocket!

For Lu Yun, that would naturally be the 10.6-meter diameter "Starship" rocket he is currently researching!
[A new type of satellite that can directly connect to a mobile phone? Awesome!]

I saw the comparison photos on Weibo, and wow, it's huge!

Scientists have previously complained that space-based internet constellations negatively impact astronomical observations. Through telescopes, rows of constellation satellites resemble glowing trains in space; wouldn't such large nodal stars further pollute the night sky?

Because of the Starlink precedent, the star systems and node stars of the "Starry Sky" constellation were developed using anti-reflective technology.

I know this technology; we used Starlink after it was criticized. But with thousands of satellites in orbit, especially now that the number of satellites in orbit in these two constellations has exceeded four thousand, the number of satellites in orbit in just these two constellations has doubled the number of satellites in orbit that humanity has had in decades. No matter how much we reduce glare, it won't work!

Indeed, before these two satellite constellations, humanity launched tens of thousands of satellites over several decades, with about five thousand operating normally. These two constellations, however, are planned to contain tens of thousands of satellites and are expected to be completed within a few years. When they're launched, they'll definitely blot out the sun, making ground-based astronomical observation impossible. Good heavens! Humanity has launched tens of thousands of satellites over several decades; Starlink plans for 4.2, and Starlink seems to be about the same. If we add to that the launches of others in the coming years, there will be 10 satellites in Earth's orbit in a few years!

[Holy crap, I saw some videos online that show Earth's orbit is completely surrounded by space debris. Wouldn't 10 satellites and countless pieces of space junk be smashed to pieces?]

[No, that's unlikely. Those online images are exaggerated. If it were real, a piece of space debris would be larger than an aircraft carrier. In reality, space orbit is quite empty. However, if there were 10 satellites plus the space debris generated by their launches, the risk of a space collision would indeed increase significantly.]

These are all problems that arise during development, and I believe they will be solved as development progresses. For example, some scientists plan to build radio telescopes in craters on the far side of the moon, and several countries are researching space debris recycling technology. These issues will definitely be resolved in the future.

[I'm hopeful. I used to be a bit pessimistic about technological development, but ever since Lu Shen made his dazzling debut, I've become optimistic about it again...]

"Of course, I, the God of the Road, will lead humanity to the stars and the sea..."

While some are heading towards the stars and the sea, the technical team of the "Starry Sky" project is measuring signals all over the world, in remote corners and densely populated areas.

One team went to Ritaewon in the shabby country, where tens of thousands of people gathered to celebrate Halloween. All the nightclubs were packed and the streets were crowded with people.

Fortunately, the team was on the balcony, not in the crowd.

"Wow, this is even more extravagant than the Bund!"

"There are news reports about the convoy outside; they say 100,000 people came here today!"

"The number of people here is definitely not as large as on the Bund, but the area is smaller. The density of 100,000 people crammed here is higher than on the Bund."

"Is it really higher than the Bund? There was a stampede on the Bund a few years ago, I hope something like this won't happen here too?"

"Now that you mention it... I realize there aren't enough police officers maintaining order at the scene. Are they sure they can handle it?"

"Hey, look at that person over there, why is he walking so unsteadily?"

"Let me see... Damn, that's not just walking unsteadily, it's like being pushed around like a shoveling machine, his face is all purple!"

"Damn it, call them right now! Hey! Hey!! You guys..."

The group that came to Hanchen Country for the test all spoke good English, and some even spoke Korean. However, the scene was too chaotic, and no one could hear what they were shouting.

The crowd celebrating below noticed someone shouting and waving their arms on the balcony and, thinking it was a greeting, waved back.

They couldn't even hear what was being shouted from above, and some people walked alongside the corpses without noticing anything.

At most, I could smell the stench of urine and the stench of the thesis defense.

"Damn it, which bastard defended his thesis here?!"

"Why does the smell of urine keep following me? Did someone pee on my leg?"

"Hey, did you pee? Speak up!"

"Your face is all purple, you must be ashamed! You...you..."

"Ah! Someone's dead!!"

(End of this chapter)