"If Beidou wants to be deployed globally, it should have at least 24 satellites in orbit, five backup satellites, and several ground backup satellites. Fifty stars should include test stars, verification stars, and higher accuracy requirements in the future, right?"

When it came to professional topics, Dai Zhongshan immediately became interested, and his eyes were bright.

"It takes twenty years to launch a total of fifty of them, and this is achievable. ”

"Fifteen in ten years, in fact, we can first seek to build a network in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Mainly supply domestic, Japan and Southeast Asia and other countries, and then expand the network to Europe, America, the early network in East Asia fifteen stars are completely sufficient, and because we specialize in Asia in the early positioning accuracy will be more advantageous, and the competition with GPS will not completely fall into the disadvantage......"

Hu Wenhai nodded, and couldn't help but glance at Dai Zhongshan even more.

Unexpectedly, this veteran scientist is not only a good hand in technology, but also far-sighted in project planning.

The positioning accuracy of the GPS system is not in place in one step, due to limited funds in the early stage, the original 24 stars should be divided into three perpendicular orbits, and finally became a six-orbit scheme of 18 stars. As a result, the accuracy and reliability of the positioning were greatly reduced, and by the end of the 80s, because the actual needs could not be satisfied, we had to launch six more satellites to complete the constellation of GPS, so as to meet the needs of a series of military systems such as the Gulf War.

As for the civilian positioning accuracy reaching the usable level, it will be at least until after the 21st century.

If the Beidou system does not take the detour of GPS, at least in Asia, it can be in place at one time, and the scheme of deploying 15 satellites in three orbits should still have a relative advantage over GPS in 2010.

As long as Beidou continues to launch and expand the network of satellites, and finally reaches the level of 27 satellites on the network, five backups, and five ground backups, it can be said that it will be able to provide global uninterrupted positioning service capabilities.

"But I think it's too extravagant to use ten stars for verification and testing. Dai Zhongshan instinctively calculated: "I know that Hu always considers the enemy to be lenient, and normally speaking, it is indeed essential to use ten stars to form a first-generation verification constellation." ”

"But in fact, we also have a shortcut, the Soviet Union's GLONASS has now completed the first phase of the experimental network, and has accumulated quite rich and reliable data and experimental programs. ”

"These materials are not only available in Russia, in fact, there should also be a backup in the hands of the Eastern Soviet Union. ”

"Soviet satellites are no worse than GPS systems in terms of positioning accuracy, because everyone is actually the same principle, the Americans' cesium atomic clocks will not be more accurate than the Soviet ones, and our cesium atomic clocks will not be slower than the Soviet ones. It's just that Soviet satellites were in orbit for a short time, so the maintenance cost was higher. But if GLONASS is redesigned with our satellite technology, I believe it will be possible to solve this problem. ”

Hu Wenhai's eyes became brighter and brighter the more he listened, he patted his thigh excitedly, nodded and said: "Why did I forget about GLONASS, just thinking that I did it! The GLONASS system has no future, Russia has lost the Baikonur launch site, and aerospace is equivalent to a lame leg." Don't say they don't have the money to make up for GLONASS, even if they have money, it's useless now!"

"What if we don't start from scratch and just expand the network on top of the GLONASSS system?"

Dai Zhongshan shook his head when he heard this, and said cautiously: "Mr. Hu's idea is theoretically fine, in fact, the positioning algorithm is similar in all countries, the key is the encryption of positioning information, and the encryption algorithm of positioning signal is the core competitiveness." Technically, as long as we get the data from GLONASS, we can produce satellites ourselves. In reality, however, the GLONASS system may not be able to shoulder the burden. ”

"The Soviet Union already has nine networked satellites, and the service life should be able to reach more than six years. At present, these satellites should be close to the end of their service life, and if Russia cannot replenish the satellites, I am afraid that it will soon lose the functionality of GLONASS. But regardless of whether GLONASS loses its function or not, it is undeniable that all GLONASS's ground control systems are in Russia, and GLONASS is Russia's state property, and it will suffer a big loss if it is greedy for small advantages in terms of national strategy. ”

"This ......"

Hu Wenhai touched his chin, and his voice was thoughtful: "The situation, I'm afraid it may not be so simple. ”

"After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the legal position of Western Russia was not so solid. Some of the legacies were indeed inherited by Western Russia, but there are others, I'm afraid they are not so clear. ”

Unlike previous history, the direct consequence of the complete collapse of the CPSU is that the jurisprudence of Western Russia as the heir to the Soviet legacy is not so unshakable. In the follow-up negotiations with the member states, West Russia's plan to form a CIS was unsuccessful, which shows that the position of this "big hair" is not stable in West Russia.

In the area where negotiations have been put on hold, the Soviet Union's space legacy is clearly one of the more high-profile pieces.

True, GLONASS's control center is on Russian territory, but the Minsk space agency has also gathered a lot of Soviet space resources. Control center or something, there's really no secret to speak of. Ivy

Now that the GLONASS system is in the hands of Western Russia, the Minsk Space Agency does not need it, and Western Russia actually sees GLONASS as a burden and is not willing to continue to invest in it.

If the Minsk Space Agency stands up with Western Russia for the Soviet Union's space legacy, it will still be a fool.

"We can keep the technology of GLONASS, but I don't approve of using their current basic networking. ”

Although Dai Zhongshan did not know these inside stories, he still insisted on his opinion: "The only valuable thing about GLONASS is the technical data accumulated by the thirty satellites it launched before and after, and now the remaining nine satellites can be controlled by the Russian ground station at any time." If we build a network based on this, it is equivalent to sending our own children to the kidnappers' den to deliver the baby. The West Russian ground station only needs to change a few parameters, and the accuracy of our follow-up networking cannot be guaranteed at all, which is unacceptable!"

Dai Zhongshan's words woke up the dreamer, and Hu Wenhai also realized that he was relying too much on shortcuts. He immediately nodded and said, "That's right, this is indeed the biggest problem." Our Beidou should be absolutely controllable, and this kind of situation controlled by others must not happen. ”

Hu Wenhai himself is not an all-knowing and all-powerful saint, but he can at least know his mistakes and change them. The use of the existing GLONASS satellite network is indeed very attractive, and the ready-made solution and most of the network has been completed, and only five or six more satellites can be launched to cover the application in Asia, which is obviously much faster than groping for it from scratch.

However, things are changing, and after entering the 90s, we need to solve not only the problem of whether there is, but also solve the problem of sustainable development.

In the eighties, we imported a large amount of obsolete industrial capacity from abroad. Complete sets of steel and large chemical equipment come in, and it is understandable that it is better to buy them. But after the completion of primitive accumulation, it is necessary to solve the problem of sustainable development, and people cannot be stuck at will.

At this time, it is necessary not only to buy, but also to build. Because only if you can build it, you can buy it without losing money when you buy it. In another ten years, why should I buy yours when I can make it?

Hu Wenhai's train of thought did not change for a while, but it is actually understandable. Human understanding is a linear process, as long as you do not refuse to change, you can be aware of the change in the situation, after all, no one is morally perfect.

"Okay, then we'll make it ourselves. ”

"I'll figure out how to figure out the technical data of GLONASS, if it is based on the second-generation networking technology of the Soviet Union, our Beidou ......"

"If Beidou starts to develop from the second generation technology, I think that two verification satellites will be launched next year, and then 18 functional satellites will be launched in ten years, and strive to achieve functional coverage in most parts of the world in 2007. Because of our superiority in semiconductors, I think it is possible for the Beidou functional star to achieve a ten-year service life in orbit. Even after 2007, we can continue to shoot more satellites and continue to improve the positioning accuracy of Beidou. ”

Dai Zhongshan laughed, and suddenly thought of the number that Hu Wenhai took out at the beginning.

"I think the Beidou network can finally form a scale of 36 on the network, eight backups, and eight ground backups. ”

"Due to the congenital defects of the GPS system, by 2017, our Beidou accuracy is definitely higher than that of GPS, and it is possible to achieve sub-meter positioning, and the reliability is obviously even better. ”

"Good guy, Dai Lao, you don't want to eat at all!"

Hu Wenhai threw out the plan of 50 stars at the beginning, indicating that he must have made a budget of 50 stars. When doing projects, I have always been worried about not having enough money, so how can I push money out? The abacus in Dai Zhongshan's hand is loud, and the meat to his mouth must not let go!

"Okay, then follow the plan you said. Hu Wenhai was not short of this money, so he simply nodded happily and said: "In 20 years, I will fight fifty-four Beidou to the sky, and the budget I will give you is 10 billion, can this number be achieved?"

"Ten billion, with GLONASS's mature technology, we can completely mass-produce ......"

Two experimental satellites plus 52 networking and backup satellites, don't look at one is less than 200 million, and the cost of the satellite does not seem to be too high. But in reality, this is not necessarily the case, the second-generation navigation satellites redesigned with GLONASS's mature technology will be able to produce a full 52 units after finalization - it is precisely because of this scale that the price can be kept so low.

If it starts from the first generation of experimental stars, it will be improved, tested, and improved again little by little, and then it will be able to network in the second generation, and 10 billion will be thrown into it to make a more beautiful splash.

The USSR sank on the GLONASS system, I don't know how many tens of billions of dollars it will cost.