Chapter 348 Starlight No. 1

Chapter 348 Starlight No. 1

Chapter 348 Starlight No. 1

2030, April 1.

Equator, Borneo.

The city in the sky above the northern suburbs of Chasing Sun City.

After a series of expansions, the area of ​​the Sky City has now reached 89 square kilometers, and the maximum payload has increased to 1.9 tons.

At noon, the entire Sky City was shrouded in darkness, almost shrouding most of the Sun City area, which also semi-permanently changed the local microclimate here.

After Hailufeng Group invested tens of billions of dollars last year, the scale of this sky city has not only expanded, but its various supporting facilities have also been improved.

Wei Wentian, deputy general manager of Blue Whale Aerospace who is in charge of the Sky City project, Gu Linyu, chief engineer of the project, Zhou Xiyi, consultant engineer and others also gathered together at the aerospace area of ​​the Sky City.

In the command center building of the aerospace zone, Wei Wentian sat upright in front of the thin and high-strength French windows, gazing at the huge launch pad in the distance. After a while, he turned his head to look at the chief engineer Gu Linyu:
"Chief Engineer Gu, is there any problem with the electromagnetic acceleration system?"

Gu Linyu replied calmly: "Please rest assured, Vice President Wei and the company. We have conducted three inspections inside and out, and all components of the electromagnetic acceleration system meet the design specifications."

"Very good, then let's start the first test launch!" Wei Wentian gave the order impatiently.

Although the head office did not force them to speed up the progress, Wei Wentian felt a sense of urgency in his heart.

After all, the head office has invested nearly 60 billion yuan. Even if this amount of money is thrown into the sea, it will make a sound. Therefore, Wei Wentian feels a lot of pressure.

"Please rest assured, Vice President Wei. The test can begin immediately." Gu Linyu assured again, then turned around and began to instruct other management, especially Su Bocai, the head of the Launch Management Center, who was the commander-in-chief of this test launch.

The two had a quick conversation.

In fact, it is just some procedural content that has been prepared more than a month before the launch. Now all we need is the order.

After receiving the launch order, Su Bocai took the elevator down to the launch command hall on the first floor.

Wei Wentian, Gu Linyu and others did not go down to join in the fun. After all, the launch command hall had a special work process, so they didn't want to go down and increase uncertainty. However, they could still see the operating status of each department through the surveillance camera network in the small conference room upstairs.

at the same time.

Inside the spacecraft hangar at the launch site.

A dozen staff members wearing sub-space protective suits were operating equipment to push a recently built spacecraft into the electromagnetic acceleration tube connected to the hangar.

The spacecraft is named "Starlight 1".

Compared with the spacecraft carried by traditional launch vehicles, the appearance of Starlight 1 is more like a space shuttle. The wings on both sides are folded up through a special design, making the aerodynamic shape of the body more smooth.

In fact, when launching at such a high altitude, the impact of the aerodynamic shape on the launch has been greatly reduced.

After all, the air density inside the electromagnetic acceleration tube is already very small at this time. This circular acceleration tube laid on the sky city is 24 kilometers long and the inside is almost vacuumed. The air density inside is less than one thousandth of that near the ground.

Although it cannot be considered a complete vacuum, the air density is only one thousandth of that on the ground, which is enough to reduce the air resistance on the spacecraft to a relatively small range.

"Reporting to the command center, the electromagnetic acceleration ring pipeline has been tested for the fourth time for this launch mission, and its air density is in line with expectations..."

"Command Center received..."

"Report to the command center, the power system of the electromagnetic acceleration track has been turned on..."

“…the Airspace Clearance Management Office reports the situation…”

"Air Traffic Control Office has received the news that the launch area has been cleared and can be launched at any time."

"…Low Earth Orbit Liaison Office reports…"

"The Earth Near Earth Office has received the news that the planned launch orbit area meets the launch requirements within the next five hours, and the launch can be scheduled during this period."

"…Outer Space Monitoring Office reporting…"

"The External Monitoring Office has received the information and has fully monitored the scheduled passage track. No obvious dangerous objects or targets with abnormal activity trajectories have been found so far."

Each department reports the situation to the command center.

After the 150-ton Starlight 1 spacecraft was pushed into the launch position, launch preparations quickly entered the final sprint stage.

In addition to the 24-kilometer-long circular electromagnetic acceleration pipeline, this electromagnetic catapult device also has a 40-kilometer straight electromagnetic acceleration track that slopes upward, and its exit is located at an altitude of about 3.2 meters.

Su Bocai looked at the main display screen in the command hall and the reports from various departments. He knew that the launch could begin, so he picked up the fixed intercom and said, "All departments, take your positions, and enter the launch countdown..."

"10..."

"8..."

"4..."

"1..."

"start up!"

Ding! As the electromagnetic acceleration module carrying the spacecraft was stimulated by the electromagnetic force, it began to push the 150-ton spacecraft to move slowly. Because it was in a sub-vacuum pipe, no harsh and sharp sound was heard from the outside world.

But the spacecraft is getting faster and faster on the electromagnetic acceleration orbit.

"Report! The spacecraft's speed has exceeded 1 kilometer per second..."

"Report! The spacecraft's speed has exceeded 3 kilometer per second..."

"Report! Spaceship..."

Su Bocai stared at the spacecraft speed data on the main screen. In less than fifteen minutes, the spacecraft speed had exceeded 8 kilometers per second.

Although the speed of the spacecraft has exceeded the first cosmic speed, the staff did not open the gate leading to the ramp or change trajectory.

Because the spacecraft speed has not yet reached the planned 11 kilometers per second.

But soon the spacecraft reached a speed of 11 kilometers per second.

The system automatically opens the gate and completes the track change instantly.

The spacecraft rushed into an upward orbit at an astonishing speed of 11 kilometers per second in an instant. The 40-kilometer orbit length increased the spacecraft's speed a little bit again.

Boo!
That was the sound of a high-speed flying object hitting the thin air.

The spacecraft rushed out of orbit and flew obliquely towards the Karman line. The linear speed of the earth's rotation reached the maximum support effect because it was at the equator.

At this time, the speed of the spacecraft is almost approaching the second cosmic speed.

However, as the flight altitude increased, the speed of the Starlight 1 spacecraft slowed down. When it passed the Karman line, its flight speed had dropped to 8.3 kilometers per second. "Start the electromagnetic particle engine!"

Light blue electromagnetic particles are rippling in low-Earth orbit. If you look through a high-power telescope, you can see a faintly flashing trail, just like a meteor.

Under the reaction force of the electromagnetic particle engine, Starlight 1 maintained a speed of 8.3 kilometers per second and continued to advance towards a higher low-Earth orbit.

Inside the command center, a group of staff members were still concentrating on monitoring the flight trajectory of the spacecraft and were not complacent about the spacecraft entering low-Earth orbit.

Time passed by minute by minute.

Until the spacecraft reached low-Earth orbit near the Tiangong space station.

The staff at the command center began to intervene manually, controlling Starlight 1 to adjust its flight trajectory so that it would stabilize near the operating orbit of the Tiangong space station.

Only at this moment did Su Bocai breathe a sigh of relief: "Huh... The first phase of this launch mission has been successfully completed! This honor belongs to all of us!"

clap clap clap...

There was immediate warm applause in the hall.

Many staff members who have worked in domestic space launch agencies also feel honored. After all, this is a launch mission with a brand-new mechanism and will inevitably be recorded in the history of human space flight.

clap clap clap...

In the small conference room on the upper floor, a group of managers were also applauding.

When the applause died down, Gu Linyu said with a smile on his face: "Vice President Wei, we have succeeded in the launch mission of Starlight 1 this time."

Wei Wentian was also very happy, but he did not act careless. Instead, he comforted the staff in the R&D department: "Thank you for your hard work, Chief Engineer Gu, and all the researchers and engineers in the R&D department. The head office and the boss will not forget your hard work."

Everyone followed suit and started greeting each other.

Although Starlight 1 has not yet docked with the Tiangong Space Station, everyone knows that what they are testing this time is not the Starlight 1 spacecraft, but the electromagnetic catapult device on the sky city.

Since Starlight 1 can be safely launched into low-Earth orbit, it proves the feasibility of this system.

This is also the reason why Gu Linyu and others opened champagne at halftime.

Even if the Starlight 1 spacecraft encounters problems in low-Earth orbit next, it will be a problem of the spacecraft design department and has little to do with the electromagnetic catapult design department.

As the design department of the Starlight 1 spacecraft, the Blue Whale Spacecraft Design Center, they are also paying close attention to this launch mission, but they still need to follow up on the follow-up.

Gu Linyu and others can hold a celebration party.

Jiang Miao, who was far away in his hometown, naturally knew what the Sky City of Zhuri City was doing. However, since the launch mission had not been truly completed successfully, he did not send a video to express his condolences.

An hour later, Gu Linyu and others had held a small celebration party in the cafeteria of the aerospace zone.

Wei Wentian picked up the teacup: "There is no wine today, so I will use tea instead of wine. Cheers!"

"cheers!"

Various beverage cups clinked against each other.

While picking up the mantis shrimp, Wei Wentian asked quietly: "Chief Engineer Gu, when can we conduct the second test?"

"The spacecraft design center has built three spacecraft. If Starlight 3 successfully docks with the Tiangong space station this time, we will start the second test next week." Gu Linyu answered as he scooped up a large spoonful of chicken mushroom soup.

This time, the spacecraft design center of Blue Whale Aerospace actually designed a total of three spacecraft, namely Starlight 3, 1, and 2.

With the support of the wealthy Hailufeng Group, Blue Whale Aerospace dared to design three spacecraft at one time.

Among them, Starlight 1 is a low-Earth orbit model with a total weight of 150 tons and an internal payload of 100 tons. It can support round trips between low-Earth orbit and the Earth and is a reusable type.

Starlight 2 belongs to the inner solar system model. It also weighs 150 tons in total and has a payload of about 50 tons. It is specially used to explore the inner solar system regions such as Venus, Mercury and the Sun. It has a targeted design and is almost impossible to reuse.

Starlight 3 belongs to the outer solar system model, with a total weight of 150 tons and a payload of about 50 tons. It is specially used to explore Mars, the asteroid belt, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, and is also a non-reusable type.

Wei Wentian turned around and picked up the teacup: "Advisor Zhou, if we launch a spacecraft to Venus, are your equipment ready?"

"It's ready. Except for a small part designed by CASIC ourselves, all other equipment are shared with your company." Zhou Xiyi represented CASIC, and he also knew his job tasks.

Since CASIC does not want to independently develop a set of equipment specifically for exploring Venus, most of its projects are in cooperation with Blue Whale Aerospace, with the two parties sharing technology and data.

After all, CASIC has many projects and it is impossible to invest all the funds into exploring Venus, so it can only cooperate in this way.

Fortunately, CASIC has enough researchers and engineers in reserve, and when it meets the wealthy Blue Whale Aerospace, the two parties hit it off.

This time, the docking test with the Tiangong space station was also coordinated by CASIC.

While Wei Wentian, Gu Linyu and others were eating and chatting.

After more than three hours of orbital fine-tuning, the Starlight-1 spacecraft finally docked successfully with the Tiangong space station.

The staff still in the control center finally breathed a sigh of relief. This meant that the launch mission was successfully completed and they could finally have a good night's sleep today.

The astronauts at the Tiangong Space Station also received a very sufficient wave of supplies.

At this time, the Tiangong Space Station has a brand-new structure. In fact, it should be called the third-generation Tiangong Space Station. The old second-generation Tiangong Space Station is still floating in low-Earth orbit.

Unlike the old second-generation Tiangong space station, the third-generation Tiangong space station has a composite structure that supports larger-scale structural construction.

For example, among the 1 tons of supplies transported by the Starlight 100 spacecraft this time, there are materials that can build five more new cabins.

These materials mainly include the inner skeleton, inflatable airbags, and external composite films. An airbag-type space capsule with a standard volume of about 150 cubic meters weighs only about 10 tons.

Of course, this does not include supporting electrical facilities and working equipment.

The 100 tons of supplies brought up this time include not only raw materials for building the space capsule, but also a batch of electrical equipment and scientific research equipment. As for the astronauts' daily necessities, they do not need to be transported by Starlight 1, because the space station already has enough daily necessities for five astronauts for about a year.

Since a lot of supplies were transported up this time, there was not enough space inside the space station to store them, so the astronauts had to build a new space capsule as soon as possible.

Fortunately, the raw materials for building the space capsule were designed in advance, so they were built very quickly.

In less than a day, the foundation construction of the two new space capsules was completed. Later, only the installation of electrical equipment and scientific research equipment was required before they could be put into use.

Although it cannot be put into use yet, it is more than enough for temporary storage of space capsule spare parts.

It was not until the fifth day that the 1 tons of supplies carried by Starlight 100 were finally moved into the new space capsule. During this period, the astronauts took the time to build a third new space capsule.

Fortunately, there is no obvious gravity in outer space, otherwise it would be quite difficult for five people to move 100 tons of supplies in five days.

(End of this chapter)