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

Jiang Mian was a little confused by his actions and still didn't understand why he needed to buy so many auto parts.

In her understanding, building rockets is a rigorous and "expensive" undertaking. Every single component used must be made of aerospace-grade materials, which is equivalent to "building a flying mountain with gold."

Can these cheap auto parts really serve the same purpose?

Not only her, but Cao Que, upon returning to the workshop, also looked utterly incredulous:

"Hoshino... are you sure we're not going off-topic? The mission is to build a simulated launch vehicle, not a car..."

Do I look like an idiot to you?

At this time, Li Ang had arranged for the ninth round of design assessment to be conducted at the Nanyuan assembly plant.

The empty workshop echoed with the sound of metal clashing.

Song Xingye slammed the pile of "scrap metal" he had just bought onto the ground, dusted off his hands, and put his hands on his hips, saying:

"This whole bunch of stuff only cost eight thousand yuan, less than a third of the budget..."

Cao Que stared at the pile of stuff on the ground, his heart pounding. "Building rockets is an expensive game. Even for simulations, you can't be this frivolous! You're using a car's exhaust valve as a combustion chamber? Dude, are you kidding me?"

"Don't underestimate car parts; they're not as simple or as low-quality as you might think."

Song Xingye walked to the pool, washed his hands, shook off the water droplets, and sat on an old wooden box nearby. He chatted with Cao Que and Jiang Mian, who had come over:

"Building cars and building rockets are essentially the same; they're both industrial engineering. There are differences between cars like the Panamera and Toyota, so why can't there be differences between rockets?"

"Why is the traditional aerospace industry so costly? It's because it's classified as a military industry. In short... all military products can have excess production capacity, and costs don't matter. As long as the objective is achieved, no cost is too high!"

"Take the B2 bomber of the old A for example. The cost of a single aircraft is as high as more than two billion US dollars. From a practical economic point of view, this bomber is actually very expensive and not cost-effective."

"But it is precisely its existence that ensures Old A's absolute hegemony in this field. This intangible deterrent power in war is priceless; this is the underlying logic behind the high price of military products..."

Cao Que and Jiang Mian nodded, seemingly understanding, "That makes sense. We made the Dongfeng missile, didn't we? That's military technology, isn't it?"

"No."

Song Xingye commented with great interest: "There is a fundamental difference between carrier rockets and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The latter must be military-grade, but the former is completely unnecessary."

He stood up, pointed to the trucks covered with camouflage tarpaulins that were transporting parts back and forth in the final assembly plant, and said earnestly:

"The reason why launch vehicles are so expensive is because engineers are used to designing them as military products."

"In their view, cost is merely a stumbling block to achieving ultimate goals... Any thought of 'saving money' will stifle boundless technological innovation, right?"

Song Xingye smiled. There was a time when he thought the same way and stubbornly supported this view.

Spaceflight is a great undertaking.

Their Dongyu Group, with a massive workforce of 200,000 people, isn't building stationary color TVs, nor is it building a Panamera with a top speed of only 300 km/h.

They built a cosmic-class spacecraft, the fastest spacecraft in human history, a "star sports car" capable of reaching Newton's first cosmic velocity, a speed of 28000 km/h, the king of speed at Mach 23!

This is why aerospace engineers always have one reason or another to justify their insistence on ensuring the high quality and reliability of rockets at all costs.

Just like the imperial kitchen of the Qing Dynasty, when preparing the Manchu Han Imperial Feast for the emperor, would they consider such trivial matters as food waste?

But after 20 years of hard work and witnessing the booming rise of commercial spaceflight firsthand, Song Xingye realized his past misconceptions.

Sometimes... they don't necessarily have to build the Panamera; Toyota can also send satellites into space.

He is undoubtedly a model of doing this to the extreme... Despite being a competitor, Song Xingye has to admit that he admires Musk.

People believe that SpaceX's rise is due to some kind of cutting-edge technology, but in fact, its technological innovations are all incremental and step-by-step, without any cutting-edge technology that makes other aerospace companies look up to it.

Elon Musk has only learned how to build 'Toyota'.

But it was precisely this "Toyota" that, in the near future, monopolized more than 80% of the world's commercial launch orders through a low-cost strategy, forcing Dongyu Group to have no choice but to transform itself in a desperate move.

Pulling himself back to reality, Song Xingye looked intently at his two companions:

"If you want to build a simulated launch vehicle with 30 million dollars, don't focus on the aerospace-related supply chain, because that supply chain is specifically designed for military products."

"These military supply chains are limited in scale, closed in industry, rigid in thinking, and have few competitors, so they simply lie flat, resulting in high costs, which is by no means the best option."

At this point, he changed the subject.

"On the contrary, many automotive industry suppliers have parts that are perfectly suited for rockets. And the automotive industry is a highly open, globally competitive, and extremely large industry."

"The suppliers here have already pushed themselves to the limit; we can buy high-performance alternatives at extremely low costs..."

These words clearly shocked the two people's preconceived notions, and they found it difficult to accept for a while.

It sounds a bit like fallacy... but upon closer examination, it does make a sliver of truth...

Cao Que pondered for a while before hesitatingly saying, "Then the quality certainly can't be compared, right?"

"That depends on which part."

Song Xingye did not completely deny it, but rather analyzed it objectively: "For common small parts like fasteners, bearings, seals, and valves, the ones used in cars might be better than those used in rockets."

"You know that? You've done the experiment?" Cao Que looked at him with a look of disbelief.

"no."

Song Xingye said with a straight face and his hands behind his back, "But you can think about it. The design standards for rocket parts don't actually need to be too high. They don't need to endure more than ten years of wind and sun exposure, nor do they need to withstand tens of thousands of repeated start-stop cycles—they only need to be used once, and if they explode, they're gone."

As he spoke, he gestured as if a rocket were launching into the sky, because rockets are disposable.

"But cars are different. When designing, suppliers must ensure that these parts can withstand rigorous testing and accompany drivers through bumpy journeys for years or even decades. In terms of durability and reliability, car parts are actually superior."

At this point, Song Xingye smiled and said, "So don't underestimate this pile of scrap metal. If you were to use it to build a simulated rocket, it might be more robust, more durable, and fly more stably than those from other teams."

After hearing this, Cao Que and Jiang Mian's initial skepticism gradually subsided, replaced by an excitement that felt like breaking with convention.

Cao Que said with admiration, "That's right. With 30 million yuan to build a rocket, the budget is tight. You have to piece together materials from various sources. You might buy a good part but a bad part. In the end, it's like a barrel with one long plank and one short plank."

Jiang Mian excitedly pumped her fist, "Let's change our thinking and build rockets using car parts. Wouldn't that be a surprising way to win?"

"Winning is still uncertain..."

Song Xingye circled the pile of parts, scratching his chin in thought. "These components are cheap, but their weight far exceeds that of aerospace components, so we need to figure out what kind of fuel can propel it."

It is not too late.

The immediate priority is to assemble this simulated launch vehicle into a complete form.

In just half a day, the three-person team assembled a bunch of scattered parts into a three-dimensional rocket from scratch.

Except for the lack of fuel, it is virtually indistinguishable from a shell.

And it was a double-layered shell.

Looking at this somewhat "ugly" work, the three were very excited, and Cao Que quickly completed the digital modeling on the computer.

So, the next thing to consider is what kind of fuel to put in it.

As one of the main bases for launch vehicles, Nanyuan Assembly Plant naturally has everything it needs, except for a 'recipe'.

The formulation of the first-stage solid fuel is particularly important!

Looking at the towering arrow, Song Xingye had already come up with several bold ideas in his mind.

……

PS: Please read, comment, and vote for me, brothers! Data during the new book period is very important. I'll repay everyone with 10,000 words a day after the book goes on sale. Thank you so much! ＼(`Δ』)／!