Reborn in 2011, I am the chief designer of aerospace.

"Why? Who are you teaming up with?"

Song Xingye and Cao Que spoke almost in unison.

Tao Shuo forced a smile: "My performance is terrible, I'm at the very bottom of the rankings. Joining your team would only lower everyone's average reward points. And even if I did get reward points, I wouldn't survive past the tenth round. Rather than being eliminated sooner or later, I might as well die sooner and be reincarnated sooner, haha."

His words left Song Xingye and Cao Que speechless.

Tao Shuo was telling the truth.

Given his current points, even if he tries to gain some points in this round, there is absolutely no chance he will make it into the top ten.

Since the outcome is already decided, a short, sharp pain is worse than a long, drawn-out one; a dignified exit may be the last vestige of dignity.

So, only Cao Que remained.

"You've decided? You're withdrawing from the camp voluntarily?" Song Xingye confirmed.

Tao Shuo nodded, looking relaxed, and said, "After staying here for so long and getting to know all of you geniuses, this summer vacation was worth it."

Cao Que patted his roommate on the shoulder, watched him pack his things to go find his mentor, and then couldn't help but sigh, "What a pity!"

Song Xingye also felt a little regretful.

I don't know who should feel sorry for.

Guo Yanyang from Beihang University is undoubtedly a promising student, but unfortunately, he lost his qualification for the Starry Sky Summer Camp due to a moment of cheating.

While this does not deny his potential to become a chief engineer in the future, losing the golden springboard of Project Star means his path will inevitably be longer and more arduous.

As for Fan Xiaoying?

Reporting cheating is not wrong in itself.

If he had stepped up right after the fourth round, Song Xingye would have respected him as a man who couldn't tolerate any injustice.

But he deliberately chose the most opportunistic time, employing a strategy of "feeding the enemy until he was fattened up before killing him."

Song Xingye was not pleased to see such a cunning and extremely self-serving person join the Star Project.

The future, the vast universe, needs comrades who can be trusted with their backs, not schemers who are always ready to stab you in the back.

Moreover, Chief Engineer Song, who has higher aspirations and goals, would not want to one day be in charge of such a person.

Finally, there's Tao Shuo. Although he has a father who's a leader, he's remarkably low-key and has excellent character.

It's a pity that his talent is slightly lacking; if he were to switch to an aerospace administration position, it might be a good outcome.

Bringing his thoughts back, Song Xingye turned around and extended his fist to Cao Que: "Welcome to my team! Let's overcome all obstacles together!"

The two young men bumped fists, then turned and walked toward Jiang Mian.

The three-person team was officially formed.

At this point, the situation in the conference hall had been settled.

With Guo Yanyang eliminated and Tao Shuo withdrawing from the competition, only 22 people remained on the field, forming six teams.

Most of them were in groups of three or four, but Fan Xiaoying's group seemed particularly desolate... He only managed to recruit one person.

Cao Que crossed his arms, making no attempt to hide his schadenfreude: "See? This is what you call reaping what you sow; nobody wants to talk to him anymore!"

Song Xingye neither confirmed nor denied this, saying, "It's one thing that no one wants to team up, but given how shrewd this guy is, this is probably a way of 'cutting his losses.' After all, apart from the top three, all the other groups are guaranteed at least 100 points. Splitting the points equally between two people, 50 points each, is actually the most cost-effective."

Jiang Mian said, "But wouldn't designing a rocket by just two people be too much work? Is it even possible to complete it?"

Cao Que curled his lip. "Even if it costs us our lives, we have to do it. If we give up now, just like he said, wouldn't all those great offers we turned down earlier be for nothing?"

Enough with the small talk.

Next, Song Xingye, Cao Que, and Jiang Mian gathered together to discuss the strategic direction of the ninth round of assessments.

"Li Ang's purpose in setting this question is very clear: to test our 'commercial spaceflight mindset'."

Song Xingye analyzed clearly: "The future of spaceflight will inevitably lean towards commercialization and low cost."

National funding doesn't come from thin air; as the saying goes, "even a hero can be brought down by a penny." Giving us only 30,000 yuan is just forcing us to engage in a "cost game"...

Cao Que stroked his chin thoughtfully, "So, we're walking a tightrope between performance limits and cost budget?"

Jiang Mian listened attentively to the two's discussion with a serious expression.

Song Xingye nodded, "That's right. Commercial aerospace thinking, especially supply chain management, risk assessment, and the ability to withstand interference during project implementation, are all hidden test points."

Of course, simply saving money isn't enough; you also need core technologies, such as automatic control and rapid programming and debugging—all are indispensable…

The three of them brainstormed all day, coming up with several plans on how to design a stable and inexpensive rocket.

However, this was all just theoretical; Song Xingye roughly arranged the division of labor as follows:

Cao Que is responsible for the PID control algorithm for rocket launches, which is essential to ensure precise launch control and flight safety.

Song Xingye and Jiang Mian were responsible for making the actual prototype, including the rocket body structure, propulsion system, and payload separation.

The discussion continued until late at night. After basically finalizing the direction, the three of them left Dongyu Building looking exhausted and returned to their residential compound on Fucheng Road.

When Song Xingye and Cao Que returned to their dormitory, a sense of desolation washed over them.

The once bustling and even somewhat crowded six-person room now appears empty.

Chang Jian, Guo Yanyang, and Tao Shuo's beds were reduced to bare wooden planks.

Fan Xiaoying was probably too ashamed to come back, or she found another place to stay and moved all her belongings away.

Left with only the two of them to rely on, Cao Que smiled helplessly: "Alright, it's already eleven o'clock. Let's hurry up and wash up. We don't need to queue tonight, haha!"

The following morning, in the multi-functional conference hall.

Looking at the assembled team, Li Ang distributed 30,000 yuan in cash, packaged in envelopes, and explained the requirements for using the money:

"You have one week to design and build this rocket. All expenses incurred during the research and development period, including experimental materials, software development, and test waste, will be reimbursed without being included in the cost..."

"This 300,000 yuan can only be used on the final physical rocket. As long as the cost of the rocket you actually build does not exceed this amount, it will meet the requirements, understand?"

Everyone nodded in agreement and then got to work.

A week is neither a long nor a short time, and everyone is busy making the most of every minute.

Cao Que has already built a simple three-dimensional computer model of the simulated launch vehicle they are going to build, and named it "Wild Donkey No. 1".

Although Jiang Mian thought the name was unpleasant, she had no choice but to accept it under Cao Que's twisted logic that "a humble name is easy to raise and a wild donkey is strong."

Next, Song Xingye and Jiang Mian began to worry about what kind of propellant should be used to power the wild donkey.

Solid propellants have the advantage of being simple and straightforward, essentially making a rocket into a giant firework, but they have a lower specific impulse, poorer flight maneuverability, and a lower payload ratio than liquid propellants.

While liquid propellants have a higher specific gravity and better performance, to achieve even better results, they need to be made into multi-stage rockets.

This was undoubtedly a huge challenge for a small team that only had a week to prepare.

After a moment's thought, Song Xingye immediately made the decision:

"Let's stop overthinking it and take a two-pronged approach: solid fuel and liquid fuel. We'll use more powerful solid fuel for the first stage, and liquid fuel for the second stage—that's how we build multi-stage rockets!"

Cao Que thought this design was a bit crazy, saying that solid-liquid mixing was too complicated.

However, given Song Xingye's undeniable abilities, he ultimately chose to submit.

Then Cao Que stayed behind to refine the 3D model, while Song Xingye dragged Jiang Mian out to go shopping.

The basic principle of a rocket is combustion and jet propulsion, so the sealing of the fuel is extremely important to ensure that the combustion chamber can withstand a sufficiently high jet pressure.

Song Xingye took Jiang Mian directly to the Xiguo Trade Auto Parts City.

Looking at the dazzling array of auto parts, Jiang Mian was dumbfounded and almost blurted out, "Aren't we going to build rockets?"

Song Xingye seemed to know what she was thinking, and confidently explained:

"Don't underestimate these. For example, this car's drain valve, with just a slight modification to the internal sealing ring, has pressure resistance that perfectly meets the requirements for rocket fuel."

Jiang Mian looked utterly bewildered: "Is this thing really reliable?"

"Don't worry, it's absolutely reliable!"

Song Xingye carefully put away the drain valve and then checked the garage door's opening and closing mechanism, seemingly pleasantly surprised.

"We can take this thing back and have a craftsman modify it into an electric actuator, install it on the rocket, and then we can control its flight balance..."

He was like a shrewd wholesaler, wandering around the auto parts market and buying a lot of car parts. In the end, he happily carried a pile of "scrap metal" to the checkout.