The time will soon come to December, and we are about to enter the fourth year of the establishment of deep space technology.

During this period, Deep Space Technology has released some products one after another, and as the world begins to adopt Deep Space Technology's commercial standards for quantum computers, the manufacturing cost of quantum computers has plummeted.

Mars Intelligent Technology released the news that the price of the new quantum computer will be reduced by more than 10,000 yuan!

This has further stimulated the confidence of the computer industry, and more and more enterprises have invested in related industries.

It is worth mentioning that Zhu Ping, the founder of the virtual construction company, whom Meng Xiaobai met at the Deep Space Technology Global Quantum Computing Conference, received a total of three rounds of capital investment from Meng Xiaobai after the conference, totaling 3 billion yuan. Meng Xiaobai and Deep Space Technology hold more than 50% of the shares.

Now virtual construction has become the hottest startup in the quantum information industry, and it is ready to be listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange in the United States in March next year.

And Meng Xiaobai himself disappeared again after the press conference. The media was very interested in the young tech business founder, but no one had an interview with him.

At a product launch conference in the second half of the year, Meng Xiaobai did not appear, and Pan Yu presided over the press conference.

……

Luzhou, Jet Power Laboratory for Deep Space Exploration. This is where Deep Space Exploration Technologies develops rocket engines and thrusters.

"A total of 16 Honghu rocket engines will be installed in the first and second stages of the rocket, and the payload will be 25 tons at that time!" Zhan Haoran, the person in charge of the jet power laboratory and a senior engineer from the Huaxia Aerospace Science and Industry Group, told Meng Xiaobai, "The preliminary test has been completed and it is qualified." ”

"Twenty-five tons of payload, what is the take-off mass?" Meng Xiaobai asked. Payload refers to the cargo carrying mass of the launch vehicle after removing the weight of the rocket body.

"Eight hundred and ninety tons. The mass of the rocket body filled with fuel is 865 tons. Zhan Haoran knows these data by heart.

Meng Xiaobai stretched out his hand, he was wearing a brand-new quantum projection watch, which had a superconducting quantum chip in it, and at the same time understood the quantum information network.

In the projection of the mobile phone, a three-dimensional model of the rocket and various data appeared.

"The payload is too low, twenty-five tons. Our quantum communication satellite, with a mass of about 0.8 tons and a payload of 25 tons, can only send 25 to 31 quantum communication satellites. In order to ensure the safety of the launch, according to the calculation of 28 vehicles, 10,000 will launch about 357 carrier rockets. ”

"The design cost of the rocket is several billion yuan, and the cost of each launch is about 700 million Chinese dollars, so that the launch cost will be 250 billion yuan to send all our microsatellites into space! This is still a case of no mistakes, in fact this is impossible, and it is difficult for the rocket to be 100 percent successful. ”

"Coupled with the cost of satellite manufacturing, other costs ......" Meng Xiaobai smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Old Zhan, I can't stand this cost!

According to this plan, the cost of this project will go up to 300 billion, even if all the sub-groups of Deep Space Technology support it together, they can't come up with so much money!

What's more, in addition to rocket projects, they have so many research projects to invest money in.

Zhan Haoran frowned, and he said, "Mr. Meng, in fact, I have also calculated this account. In my opinion, the accounts cannot be counted like this. Now we have a payload of twenty-five tons, and if in three or five years, when our technology matures and doubles the carrying capacity, the cost of launching will plummet. Or a breakthrough in our rocket recovery technology, the cost will be further reduced. ”

"With a payload of 25 tons, it's already the best we can do. In the whole of China, there are only a handful of launch vehicles with a payload of 25 tons!"

"It's been too long!" Meng Xiaobai still shook his head, in fact, Zhan Haoran's idea was not wrong, because he regarded this project as a plan for one or two decades. Space exploration is regarded as a technology that human beings need to gradually progress over hundreds of years.

But Meng Xiaobai can't allow such a high launch cost and time, eight years and ten years later, their quantum computer will no longer have an advantage, and then the global quantum communication network will no longer have the same great significance and role as it is now, so he must improve.

Meng Xiaobai thought for a few hours and reconvened the meeting.

"We have to adjust the programme. Meng Xiaobai said, "Abandon the Honghu rocket engine, its thrust is too small!"

"What?" Hearing this, Zhan Haoran was the first to object, and he emphasized: "The Honghu rocket engine is the best we can do at the moment. Even if it is to be updated, it will have to wait for the next generation of rocket engines to appear!"

Zhan Haoran himself is one of the chief designers of the Honghu rocket engine, which is his proud work, and now it is denied by Meng Xiaobai, so he naturally opposes it.

"Elder Zhan, don't get excited. Meng Xiaobai said, "I want to give up the Honghu rocket engine, naturally I have my reasons." I will come up with a new engine scheme, tentatively named the 'Hercules' rocket engine. We'll get to that later. ”

Zhan Haoran couldn't help it, he had seen the name of the project for this "Hercules" engine, but wasn't it in a situation where it had been stranded?

"We need to have a stronger load capacity, at least four times as much as it is now, more than 100 tons!" Meng Xiaobai said.

"A hundred tons?"

"It can't be!"

"It's a dream!"

"Yes, at present, the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle, which has the strongest carrying capacity in the world, has a payload of only 63.8 tons, and we want to reach 100 tons, which is absolutely impossible!" Even the top international talents in aerospace technology who were present began to question Meng Xiaobai's decision.

"Everyone, don't be impatient, I'll finish the plan first, and then we'll discuss the feasibility. Meng Xiaobai reassured.

Thinking that Meng Xiaobai is boss, everyone could barely hold back their temperament, but they didn't agree in their hearts that they could do it.

"In order to reduce the cost of rocket launches, we have to recycle rocket parts. For example, expensive rocket orbiters, engines, and boosters. These parts can theoretically be reused over and over again, as long as we can safely recover them from space. ”

"If we can do that, we can reduce our launch costs by 80 percent!"

According to Meng Xiaobai's calculations, if he can do all these measures, the overall cost will be reduced by 200 billion yuan! This is an astronomical amount, and it is not only his goal, but also his only choice, because if he does not do this, this project will either drag the front line to several decades, or drag deep space science and technology into the quagmire of debt.