Chapter 17 Commercialization_1

Traditional spacecraft or space shuttle?

If this were a choice in traditional spaceflight projects, the former would of course be preferred.

The latter had continuously been proven to be expensive, inefficient, and high-risk; America executed its last space shuttle mission in 2011 and then terminated the entire space shuttle program.

During the 1990s, China planned its manned spaceflight program, which included a proposal for a small space shuttle, but ultimately, it was rejected.

Space shuttles are mainly divided into two types based on their launch methods: one that flies into space on its own, and another that is launched as a payload by a rocket.

America's shuttle belongs to the first type; during launch, the space shuttle is attached to a fuel tank, complemented with two solid rocket boosters, and after takeoff, the fuel tank is discarded to enter space.

This requires the space shuttle to have a large rocket engine of its own, and after reentering the atmosphere, it glides down and can't maneuver like a plane.

The former Union, however, adopted the latter method, forcibly pushing the over 100-ton Blizzard Space Shuttle into space using the massive "Energy" rocket, thus eliminating the need for the space shuttle to have a large engine of its own.

The "Blizzard" instead had four turbofan engines at the back for atmospheric flight and a small rocket engine just for orbital maneuvers, which allowed for freedom of movement after reentry into the atmosphere.

The two aforementioned countries' space shuttles were monsters weighing over 100 tons. The one China once planned and the type provided by the system were similar, both being relatively small with a launch weight not exceeding 30 tons, capable of being sent into space on top of a medium-to-large rocket.

Even though history proved space shuttles to be unfeasible, considering that the proposal came from the system, Lin Ju felt that it needed careful consideration.

Unfortunately, the system refused to provide detailed information, supplying only the basic parameters for the two proposals, otherwise, he could have had the system engineers analyze them.

After much thought, Lin Ju, while clear on the simpler and safer nature of proposal one, still found himself leaning towards proposal two.

After all, from a sensory standpoint, space shuttles simply seem more advanced than spacecraft, and in reality, they are.

However, he didn't rush to make a decision and instead kept the issue in mind.

The next day, the negotiations with the Sixth Institute resumed.

This time, Lin Ju noticed that Chief Designer Zhao was visibly exhausted, clearly having been in an all-night meeting with others.

Chief Designer Zhao sat down and got straight to the point, extending one hand:

"100 million, 5 people, all with professional titles. Except for two currently involved in national key projects, anyone willing to leave is free to go."

"That won't do, twenty! One hundred and forty million for 10 researchers and 10 senior technicians from the factory, definitely worth it!"

Lin Ju understood Chief Designer Zhao's intention very well; researchers from the research institute could vary greatly in ability, and their positions could be quickly filled through the aerospace talent system.

However, the senior technicians from the affiliated factories were prized one-of-a-kind talents, especially in the aerospace business, where a lot often depended on the skills of highly skilled technicians.

Yet, Chief Designer Zhao was even more aware of this, and upon hearing the exaggerated number twenty, the middle-aged man nearly jumped out of his chair.

The two sides went back and forth until the afternoon when they reluctantly reached a consensus.

Eight researchers, six senior technicians, and a list of the people who couldn't be poached was also provided; even if you tried to persuade the higher-ups, they wouldn't let them go.

On the third day, both parties signed the formal contract, and the transaction officially took effect.

New Yuan Aeronautics was obliged to deliver three engines within two months while also sending a technical team to the Sixth Institute to guide them in mastering the production process for the K120.

The latter was actually of no consequence; the main advantage of the K120 lay in its design, which greatly simplified the number of components required using ample experience, with the manufacturing difficulty even lower than that of the YF100.

This deal brought Lin Ju an immediate inflow of 100 million in liquid funds. Although not received in a single payment, it was more than enough to sustain New Yuan Aeronautics.

However, if it were for a manned spaceflight project, the budget would be tight; even with system support eliminating the majority of R&D expenses, the cost for materials and processing alone would no doubt be significant.

A hundred million would definitely not be enough; at least two hundred million would be needed.

In one respect, New Yuan Aeronautics had a significant advantage over all other rocket companies: research and development.

After all, rockets were not like cars or planes that could be mass-produced in the hundreds or thousands; a rocket model flying 10 times was already considered a lot.

A rocket might only cost tens of millions, but if you start to distribute the research and development costs, which could reach billions or even tens to hundreds of billions, across each launch, the cost of a single mission would skyrocket to an absurd level.

Even the Saturn V rocket from America's moon landing was no exception; once the R&D costs were accounted for, it turned out that a single rocket was as expensive as an aircraft carrier, and that's just not sustainable, even for a financial giant.

If other aerospace companies knew that space exploration could be achieved with so little money, they would have fainted in the restroom by now.

And for commercial spaceflight, making money definitely means earning from satellite launches.

In fact, in the world of 2014, private aerospace companies in all countries were basically in a developmental stage, and the costs of commercial satellite launches were still very high. It wasn't until Ma's Falcon Rocket successfully achieved reusability that costs were significantly reduced through repeated use.

Demand for commercial orders during this period was strong, with no shortage of profitable opportunities.

Lin Ju found System Engineer Androff in the factory and first inquired about improvements to the New Yuan No. 1 rocket.

Since Tang Weitian said the capacity could be improved to around 1.6 tons, it must be feasible, and Lin believed in the capability of the system engineer.

Sure enough, as soon as he mentioned it, Androff already had his computer out.

"I've fully understood the design of the New Yuan No. 1. Its application scenario isn't near-Earth orbit but rather something like the sun-synchronous orbit, though not quite. I've prepared a few improvement proposals."

Androff had three proposals; one was a three-stage modification, which could boost the near-Earth orbit capacity to 1.65 tons while keeping the cost almost unchanged.

The second one was a two-stage configuration, reducing the cost slightly with a 1.4-ton capacity for near-Earth orbit.

The third proposal improved the third-stage rocket, mainly targeting the SSO sun-synchronous orbit and capable of launching a 700-kilogram payload.

He also helped Lin Ju calculate the cost; launching the New Yuan No. 1 would vary between 12 to 19 million, extremely low, costing only about 10,000 yuan per kilogram of payload.

The quotation to the outside world could even be reduced to 5,000 US dollars, which would still yield a substantial profit.

If it were international prices, commercial satellites weighing around 1 ton were currently quoted at about 20,000 to 30,000 US dollars per kilogram, which means nearly tenfold profits per order!

However, such orders weren't easy to secure, as satellites of such heft were definitely high-end, with most likely containing parts produced in America.

According to the law America enacted ten years prior, any rocket carrying American parts could not be launched by a Chinese rocket; otherwise, the manufacturer would not be held accountable in case of issues.

But even small companies or academic institutions have needs for orders, and there's no reason not to consider shared launches. Satellite group-buying was a thing decades before the likes of Pinduoduo existed.

"Androff, make the data on these rockets more detailed; we want to take on commercial orders!"