Return to Hong Kong Island for a Century

Chapter 305: Doubts about Rocket Technology?
"That's good." Li Song nodded.

Then nothing much happened, after all, it was just the New Year. But Li Song was thinking about when to bring a woman back to his hometown, so that he wouldn't be bothered by people when he went back.

When Li Song was in Hong Kong Island.

Mainland Kyoto!

The leaders held another small meeting in a small conference room, this time also concerning Li Song.

"Everyone has seen the data, what are your thoughts?" Among those attending the meeting were several top rocket experts, and even one of the founders of NASA.

He was also a founder of my country's aerospace industry, and this rocket technology evaluation was led by this expert.

"This...is the technology really that advanced?" Everyone saw the expert's conclusion in the data: it's world-leading.

"Yes, this rocket design is for a liquid-fueled heavy-lift rocket. Judging from the size and material of the fuel tanks, it should be based on the liquid oxygen-methane technology route. However, there are still some aspects that we haven't fully understood yet. I didn't expect that America's technology has developed to this level," the expert said. This expert was also a leader in the aerospace department.

"So how difficult is the manufacturing technology?" someone asked.

"Manufacturing shouldn't be a problem; we have the materials technology and all that."

"The main thing is that the design of this rocket seems to have some room for upgrades."

"Several technologies of this rocket are far more advanced than ours. First, the nozzle material technology is more resistant to high temperatures. Second, the fuel pump material technology." Back when we were developing missiles, it was this expert who made the final decision.

Because China's industrial and materials technology was relatively weak at the time, developing fighter jets required the fighter jet engines to operate stably for about a hundred hours.

The rocket engine only needs to run for tens or even hundreds of seconds.

In hindsight, this was correct, because missiles became a stabilizing force, offering advantages that aircraft could not achieve.

"I have a feeling that this rocket might have other uses."

"Because theoretically, many of the rocket's engines and related components have a longer lifespan."

"Moreover, the technology for liquid oxygen methane is more advanced than that for liquid oxygen kerosene, so why not use liquid oxygen kerosene?" The expert was puzzled.

If the other leaders are just staring blankly at each other, and even the experts can't figure it out, then people like us are even less likely to understand.

"Will this help our rockets?" a leader asked.

"Of course it helps. It allows our rocket engines to run for longer, which in turn allows intercontinental ballistic missiles to fly farther."

"Furthermore, secondary ignition technology can be used in multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) technology."

"The control technology used is also different from the traditional one. It uses integrated circuit chips, which should be their own simplified instruction set chips, but there is no detailed control technology information."

Upon hearing this, the superior leader took a deep drag of his cigarette and asked, "Just say what you mean. It's not like you're giving a report; you don't need to be so formal."

The expert and leader began by saying, "I suspect this is a reusable rocket."

"Reusable rocket?"

"Yes, this is also a future technology roadmap, but it involves too many things, is technically difficult, and requires a more sophisticated control system and ground support system."

"In addition, liquid oxygen and methane is the only technical route. Liquid oxygen and kerosene are not suitable for recycling because they produce carbon deposits."

"So the technology of the first stage of this rocket is a little different from that of the following two stages."

"However, even Ami probably doesn't have mature technology at this stage."

"I just don't know if Fat Bear has any."

"America has seen a boom in integrated circuits in recent years, so it has a strong advantage in this area."

"Judging from the missiles that came with the fighter jets we received last time, Aramco's advantage in integrated circuits is expanding, and their applications are becoming more extensive."

When the other leaders heard this, their eyes widened. A reusable rocket?

"Can we ask Li Song about this?" a leader asked.

"Hmm, does a reusable rocket mean that the rocket debris is disassembled and the parts are reused?" a leader asked.

"No, a reusable rocket refers to a rocket whose first stage separates at an altitude of 80-100 kilometers and then autonomously flies back to the launch site."

"This stage can then be used in the next launch mission, so it requires powerful computing power and an auxiliary positioning system, which requires an extremely high amount of computation," the expert and leader explained.

"That's amazing!" The others finally understood.

"So, this rocket will come back on its own, and even ignite and land by itself?" someone asked, eyes wide.

"Yes, there are several key technical points here. The first is the technology of the rocket itself, because all the parts need to be reused, which places extremely high demands on the materials technology."

"Another aspect is control technology, such as fuel technology. The greater the weight, the greater the risk of reprocessing. How can we precisely control the fuel?"

"Of course, too little fuel is also not good. If there is not enough fuel, there will not be enough time for retrograde propulsion, and if the altitude is too high, it is easy to fall directly down."

"Therefore, the rocket's control system needs to be excellent enough, and the rocket's control system needs to calculate on its own when to detach from the second stage."

"Then during the recovery process, external intervention is almost impossible. It relies entirely on the rocket's own control system to determine the ignition altitude and engine operating time. In short, the technical difficulty is very high."

"It cannot be separated from ground support equipment, because the rocket needs ground support equipment to know where to land, and the accuracy requirement is extremely high."

"Of course, all of this is my personal analysis..."

"This is the future trend, but the technical difficulty is too great. I also discovered a significant difference between the engine technology of the first and second stages of this rocket. The technology of the second stage is not as good."

"Moreover, first-stage rocket recovery can save at least 60% of launch costs."

"In addition, the final stage of this rocket is designed for launching multiple satellites at once, meaning it can carry several satellites into different orbits at once."

"This also places extremely high demands on the control system..."

Everyone else fell silent after hearing this, because the technical difficulty was indeed too high.

The accuracy involved includes remote sensing measurements and the rocket's own control system; neither can be omitted.

And then there's the multi-satellite launch technology, which sounds incredibly impressive.

"We'll just ask Li Song when the time comes," the main leader said.

Li Song himself didn't understand rocket technology, but the engineers offering bounties on secondhand platforms did, so they naturally provided the best technology available at the time. Of course, rocket technology itself was one aspect, but ground control and remote sensing technology was another.

Fortunately, the maximum flight altitude of the rocket recovery stage is only 100 kilometers, which allows for the deployment of more ground-based remote sensing monitoring stations at the launch site and along the eastern route of the rocket's operation, providing accurate remote sensing data for the rocket.

Because the rocket ascends, but the Earth rotates eastward, it appears from the ground that the rocket is flying westward. That is, after the launch from Jiuquan, people west of Jiuquan will gradually see the rocket.

Rocket technology itself may seem simple, but the manufacturing and control technologies are extremely difficult.

Many countries failed in the decades that followed, but our country was able to succeed early on thanks to the top experts who returned from Aramco.

It can be said that the success of our rocket technology owes much to the US, and to be honest, these experts were trained by the US, which must be acknowledged.

Actually, from another perspective, the problem between Ami and us isn't that big; it's that some guys are taking more, and some cities have lost hundreds of thousands of people just like that...

In the decades that followed, they even supported some of our neighboring countries in causing trouble for us...

The biggest advantage of liquid rocket technology is its reusability, but it also presents the most technical challenges.

For example, the pressure of the fuel nozzle, fuel atomization technology, fuel pump technology, methane is a cryogenic fuel, how long does the fuel pump operate under this cryogenic condition?

Furthermore, the higher the pressure at the rocket fuel nozzle, the higher the temperature the nozzle needs to withstand.

The higher the temperature of the rocket nozzle, the greater the rocket thrust, but this also means a higher level of technical difficulty.

This is why, with the same type of rocket, some rockets can carry seven or eight tons to the highest orbit, while others can only carry one or two tons.

Putting aside other factors, in a simple internal combustion engine, the higher the level of fuel atomization, the more complete the combustion, and the greater the power generated by the engine.

Technology is simple if you understand it, but not if you don't.

Of course, although the temperature at the rocket nozzle is four thousand degrees, there are ways to prevent it.

This involves routing the fuel line around the outside of the nozzle, which not only cools the rocket nozzle but also heats the fuel.

This will result in higher combustion chamber temperatures and greater thrust.

Of course, this is also more difficult to manufacture, requiring titanium alloy material technology, as well as high-temperature resistant material technology, especially the core combustion chamber.

Of course, the same applies to rocket engines, which have short burn times and are reusable.

As you can see, the reusable rocket is still emitting flames during the recovery process. This is to maintain a certain temperature in the rocket engine and keep the fuel pumps and other components inside the engine running continuously.

The fuel pump uses cryogenic fuel, so if it stops and can't be restarted for other reasons, it will be a problem.

Li Song's rocket control system uses chips he manufactures himself, which allows the rocket's control system to operate at a faster speed.

At that time, most rockets used a hybrid technology of vacuum tubes, transistors, and integrated circuits.

Vacuum tubes are mainly used in auxiliary circuits.

However, rocket recovery requires the control system to continuously receive remote sensing data from the ground and then perform continuous calculations to make the rocket understand its location and what to do next.

It also depends on the rocket's own condition, because the rocket may encounter some unexpected situations during the recovery process, such as strong winds.

Therefore, all of these things need to be planned in advance, and the Rockets will choose their next move based on their own situation.

Using chip control technology can make rockets operate faster and react more quickly, while also reducing the rocket's weight.

Of course, there are also strategic considerations at the national level, taking into account factors such as future wars, so the country is relatively conservative in its application of certain technologies.

Because if the national level is too aggressive, it could cause some unnecessary losses.

Moreover, with technology, once a new generation of technology is adopted, the previous generation of technology will gradually become obsolete.

Eventually, the previous generation of technology will completely disappear from people's sight, and the relevant technical personnel will gradually abandon these technologies.

In fact, Li Song's ability to produce such excellent rocket technology at this time was inseparable from the Cold War.

Before the advent of the intelligent era, developed countries around the world have been living off their past achievements.

They can't even fully utilize their original assets. For example, the fat bear that split up later still needs to do some research to figure out how they produced strategic bombers for the Cold War.

America's plan to return to the moon also turned into a complete mess, because once the technology is no longer needed, everything is gone, and starting over would require a huge investment.

Moreover, as everyone knows from Amei's side, whenever there's a project, the cost is always much higher than planned.

As long as there's a name, the fees will skyrocket. A certain state might build some kind of high-speed rail, planning for hundreds of kilometers, but in the end it's only a hundred kilometers or so. They talk about it for years and invest a lot of money, but in the end, not a single kilometer of railway is laid... But the initial money has been spent... If they want to build it again later, they'll add more money.

The technology Li Song presented was quite advanced, mainly because rocket technology at that time was extremely advanced. The Saturn rocket from Amazon and the Energia rocket from the USS Theodore Roosevelt were both top-notch technologies.

Of course, the rocket technology that Li Song presented was not complete; he didn't even bring out the control technology, including the ground control system, because Li Song also needed to use a new generation of computers.

However, the chip has not yet been manufactured, so Li Song has not yet produced the control technology.

Anyway, I'm not in a hurry about rocket technology for now, because the infrastructure for rocket launch sites can't be completed in a short time.

First, acquire rocket technology, meaning let the mainland develop it first, such as materials and processing. By the time we need to develop it ourselves, the mainland will have already digested and absorbed the technology we provided.

To achieve a win-win situation through cooperation.

To avoid having to wait for technical PR or something after you've already released it yourself.

The tenth night of the first lunar month is Valentine's Day, and Li Song spent Valentine's Day with A Lin.

Then I spent Sunday with Arlene.

On Monday, the twelfth day of the first lunar month in 1981, Li Song took a stroll around the Baisheng Semiconductor Research Institute. The two projects there could not yield results in a short period of time.

After strolling around for a while, I went to Phoenix TV, which is not far away. The Wonderful Magazine also has its offices here now.

The television station and research institute were converted from former factories. Hong Kong Island's industry has gradually declined, and the future development direction is finance and service industries. That's why people on Hong Kong Island are now keen on stock trading.

Li Song arrived at the TV station, and Liu Jiale came to report on his work.

"Boss, everyone has responded very well to our celebration party, and they all want us to continue doing it during major holidays," Liu Jiale said first.

Li Song hadn't seen the edited video of the gala yet, but he knew it must be amazing, especially the lucky draw segment. After all, it was a house worth 300,000 yuan—who wouldn't be envious?
(End of this chapter)