I ask you to build tractors, but you build rockets?

As soon as Badis finished speaking, the dozen or so representatives present became confused and made various sounds of unknown meaning.

Italy has some aerospace technology capabilities, but it mainly manufactures space modules, rockets? It took 11 countries to build the Ariane rocket.

Just want to make a profit? A reusable rocket with a transport capacity of 30 tons?

Antoine: "Director Badis, if you want to develop your own rocket, I welcome it on behalf of everyone. I hope that Veneto 1 can replace him when the Ariane 10 rocket retires."

There was laughter at the venue immediately. Antoine was obviously very arrogant. The Ariane rocket is actually based on China. As a traditional European industrial power, it is difficult to support a heavy rocket project on its own. In the end, he chose Developed jointly with ESA.

It's not necessarily impossible if you have to push it yourself, but the progress... it's hard to say.

But Badis remained calm in the face of everyone's ridicule, beckoning to call up Salur, the representative of Alenia Aerospace Company.

Without saying a word, Salur directly placed a thick rocket model on the table:

"The Veneto-1 rocket uses a 5.4-meter-diameter rocket body with a 400-ton liquid oxygen and kerosene engine in the middle. Eight 130-ton liquid oxygen and kerosene rocket engines are placed around it, with a take-off thrust of 1,440 tons and a take-off mass of 1,200 tons, the LEO transport capacity without recycling is 38.4 tons, and the LEO transport capacity with recycling is 31.5 tons;

It adopts support leg recovery and has CBC potential. The CBC capacity recovery version is 95 tons LEO, and 122 tons is not recovered. It is completely suitable for moon landing!

The Veneto 1 rocket will make its first flight at the end of this year! "

When Salur finished speaking, the venue fell into silence.

It took a long time before the Belgian representative asked:

"Mr. Salur, the 5.4-meter rocket body is the technology of the Ariane 5 rocket, right? But the 400-ton and 130-ton liquid oxygen and kerosene engines are not available in Europe. Whose engine are you going to use?"

At this time Badis stood up and said proudly:

"We have already negotiated with Xinyuan Aerospace Power and the China Space Administration. Xinyuan will provide us with a specially-made K400 (K380 small supercharger for increasing combustion chamber pressure) staged combustion cycle liquid oxygen kerosene engine, and the space agency will provide us with the YF100V ( YF100K latest improved version) liquid oxygen kerosene engine;

At the same time, the recovery system is also provided by Xinyuan. They provide a complete solution and are willing to sell one K400 and eight YF100V engines within three months, which is enough to build a Veneto-1 rocket. "

"Jesus!"

The scene suddenly became lively, and everyone stared at Badis and the Veneto 1 rocket model on the table in shock, unable to believe that this was really happening.

ESA has always been short of heavy-lift rockets, and it is not that it has never thought about purchasing engines. However, before, it was unwilling to buy Lucia engines because of its pride. Now that the situation has changed, it is no longer possible to buy them.

If you can buy engines and control systems from China, that is definitely a good thing.

Antoine and Representative Dai Ying were also a little surprised, they didn't expect Badis to play like this.

Then representative Dai Ying asked:

"So Bardis, what's the price?"

cost? Of course there is.

Badis's smile faded a little, recalling the good news that Salur told him a few days ago.

On the day of the launch of Qinglong 2, Alenia Aerospace asked Xinyuan: Since the engine and recovery system can be sold domestically, can it also be sold externally?

Lin Ju did not consider this issue at all at that time, and later raised the matter within the Aviation Development Committee.

Whether to sell or not is not as simple as a business issue, so in the end it was the higher-ups who made the decision and decided to sell conditionally.

First of all, engines can only be sold as kerosene engines, and the quantity is limited. YF100K can be sold, and K380 can also be sold. This is enough.

Then there are the conditions: For rockets using engines sold by China, the assembly and launch plants must have Chinese technical personnel on site for supervision to prevent damage. Otherwise, no follow-up technical support and service support for shutting down the recovery control system will not be provided.

The recycling control system sold by Xinyuan is of course encrypted and connected to the Jingwei satellite network to provide measurement and control service support. If the satellite service is stopped, the recycling system will stop.

This also ensures that even without providing any technology transfer, ESA can only use it and cannot reverse it.

Of course, you can't copy it by reverse engineering. You can dismantle the rocket engine as you like, but its technical content is not as simple as its design.

Moreover, these two Veneto rockets can only carry out internal launch missions of ESA and cannot undertake commercial missions to make money. Of course, they cannot launch any payloads for military purposes.

Other than that, there are no other conditions. A K400 costs US$10 million, a YF100V costs US$4 million, and a customized recycling system costs US$150 million, for a total of US$192 million.

Of course, the first thing is not the most important. The most important thing is to give ESA a little motivation to resist NACA.

Even at Europe's outrageous prices, the launch cost of Veneto 1 can definitely be reduced to US$200 to US$300 million, and it can be launched repeatedly.

With a sharp weapon in his heart, he has a murderous intention.

9 engines, replaced with ESA and NACA centrifugals, inserted a nail in, perfect.

When Badis told the conditions, the representatives were not fools, and they all understood the rabbit's intentions, but even if it was a poisonous apple, it was still a good apple that was fragrant and sweet.

Veneto 1 can significantly reduce launch costs, which is good news for all ESA member states, and is also conducive to the growth of ESA's strength. They rely on NACA, but don't they lack a cost-effective heavy-lift capability?

However, accepting Veneto 1 and the additional conditions means going against NACA. All ESA countries are willing, but few have the guts, so they are hesitant.

Representative Dai Ying hesitated to speak, and Salur quickly added the final blow.

"Everyone, don't we still have the solid rocket booster EAP of the Ariane 5 rocket? The EAP thrust reaches 506 tons. If four of them are bundled with Veneto 1, the take-off thrust will reach 3464 tons. The take-off mass is 2,300 tons and the LEO capacity is 62 tons. It can send a load of 24 tons to the moon, and the core-stage Veneto 1 can still be recovered.

Think about it, if you launch the landing part and the manned spacecraft separately, then..."

Antoine blurted out: "Then Europe can implement its own moon landing plan. Just two launches are enough. 48 tons is enough for a manned spacecraft and lander."

Badis secretly thought that the idea from his Chinese friends was a good one. Veneto 1 has great expansion potential and can greatly increase its transport capacity through different designs.

"Yes, bundling the booster only requires pre-reservation of the separator installation position and adjustment of the structure. With the rocket, we are capable of landing on the moon.

Everyone, Europe missed the moon landing during the Cold War. When the second race to the moon comes, will we miss it too? "