The No. 4 aerospace assembly workshop is one of the first assembly workshops to be built.

Of course, the secret project should be low-key, so Tang Chao did not arrange it to the No. 1 assembly workshop, but threw it to the No. 4 workshop.

Assembly Hall 1 is the largest one, which is used to assemble rockets.

At present, the company's smallest rocket is more than 40 meters long, and the super-heavy rocket under development will reach 80 meters, of course, the largest will be used.

But let's not talk about it over there, there is enough excitement to see here in Workshop 4.

Entering the real workshop, the eyes are white, just like the anti-static clothing on their bodies.

All kinds of equipment are listed in it, and many engineers wearing the same anti-static clothing are busy.

The most striking thing is the aircraft in front of you, it is surrounded by many scaffolding, overpasses, moving ladders, and mechanical arms, it is white and black, and it has a space shuttle smell, but the whole is flatter than the space shuttle, and it looks more aggressive and more sci-fi.

This is Navigator's first orbital shuttle that is about to be completed.

Or a single-stage orbiting vehicle or a spaceplane.

It doesn't have an official name yet, it has only one codename, and it's called "Dart X".

Ahem, because the engine it uses is the T-1 "Dart" annular plug liquid-fuel engine.

All the foundations of this space vehicle are on those six engines, so Tang Chao simply gave it a modern name with the name of the engine.

As for its positioning, how to say it, although many people want to call it an "aerospace aircraft", it is not at all.

Because the aerospace plane is a new type of aircraft that can both aviation and aerospace, it is an aircraft that highly integrates aviation technology and aerospace technology.

And the "Dart X" cannot carry out aviation flights, at least for long periods of time, because it is equipped with a rocket engine.

Everyone knows that rocket engines are oil tigers...... No, each is an oil whale.

Even if fuel can account for 90% of the take-off weight of the aircraft, it will be done in a few minutes or ten minutes.

This time is comparable to a shudder for an aeronautical vehicle in the atmosphere, and it is just about to take off.

At this time, people asked, "Has it started?" ”

You say, "It's over." ”

How embarrassing it is.

However, compared with the traditional space shuttle, the "Dart X" also has its own advantages, and the advantages are huge.

Otherwise, Tang Chao would not have taken it out and used it as a transitional spacecraft, fishing by the way.

Zhang Liyan would not rather stay bald for it, and then be excited when it is almost finished.

The traditional space shuttles are only Merrican and the dead White Bear, but they all need auxiliary rockets to send them, and they cannot be put into orbit on their own.

Not to mention the white bear's, the "Buran" space shuttle was sent purely by rocket, and it has not been served, only a test launch.

It does not exert its own power during the take-off phase, and the rocket that sends it into space is the legendary "Energy" rocket, which has a carrying capacity of more than 100 tons in low-earth orbit.

There are many Space Shuttles at Merriken, and all of them have carried out actual missions.

They also say that they don't rely on rockets, they only need to hang a fuel tank and use their own engines to fly into space.

However, it uses an external orange fuel tank that is larger than itself, as if it is attached to the fuel tank, not to mention that it also has two solid rocket thrusters, each of which can produce more than 1,500 tons of furious thrust.

So it's up to you to say anything, just listen to it.

However, both the White Bear and the Merriken have been retired, and it is now the world of the second generation of space shuttles.

Oh, probably, the world of the future.

Because the second generation of space shuttles are all being tested and have not yet officially entered service.

The second-generation space shuttle has shrunk a lot, is basically unmanned, and can be launched directly on the top of the rocket.

In the final analysis, it is with the help of external forces.

The only thing that can go to the sky with its own engine is the legendary reusable, unmanned, single-stage orbital spaceplane "Adventure Star...... A one-half scaled-down prototype - the X-33.

This spaceplane can be launched vertically on the launch pad and then landed horizontally on the runway.

Unfortunately, the technical demonstrator, codenamed "X-33", never took off, and the final progress was fixed on 95% of the parts manufacturing and 75% of the assembly.

Then, because of technical problems, it was dismounted, leaving a big hole for aerospace enthusiasts.

If "Dart X" can succeed, it will be really, absolutely absolutely!

It will definitely be a unique achievement in the history of Earth's space flight.

What can you say about the previous achievements of the Navigator......

They don't have the most prize money in the world.

As for rockets, there were even bigger ones a few decades ago.

In terms of lunar probes, lunar rovers, and sample returns, it is not the first in the world.

The fifty-ton Yuegong-2, although the tonnage is large, there really isn't much of a breakthrough, just a large lunar module, or the kind that doesn't take people.

Therefore, his company's single-stage orbit vehicle is about to be built, and Zhang Liyan's excitement is not adulterated at all.

Zhang Liyan took Tang Chao in and out of "Dart X", and circled it several times up and down, left and right, and introduced a ten-in-ten.

Tang Chao also listened with a smile.

It's just that most of these are for outsiders to see, because today's scene has already been experienced when he was in Kanxing.

Now that I think about it, it was several years ago in terms of the time of Kanxing.

Time, it's really embarrassing.

When he first saw this kind of space vehicle, he was as excited as Zhang Liyan.

But now a few years have passed, and even not long ago he just ran to the "Moon" and "Mars" of Kanxing, and obtained the same controllable nuclear fusion technology and nanorobot technology as black technology, and he really can't look down on this thing in front of him.

Of course, Tang Chao is still very happy to see it on the earth, especially in his own company.

This means that the earth is about to usher in a new era of spaceflight, an era in which manned spaceflight will be reduced from top-level specialization to popularization.

The cargo capacity of a single-stage orbital vehicle is extremely stretched, and the carrying capacity is generally only 2% of the take-off weight, or even less.

Wanting to transport cargo into space without separating anything is only because early rockets are prone to danger when they separate.

However, as the scientific and technological strength of human beings becomes higher and higher, safe separation is no longer a problem, so there is no need to put the whole into orbit, and it is better to throw away the dead recovery rocket at a critical moment.

Because their carrying capacity can reach about 5%, and the cargo compartment is easy to build larger, it can easily carry large equipment.

Of course, that's for freight.

For humans, it still looks safe to fly without throwing anything away.

This kind of thing that flies in the sky and has to go into space is terrifying when it drops scum.

Not to mention throwing away such a large section, even two or three times.

There are even some sophisticated equipment, such a batch of "stable" aircraft that take off and land horizontally, and the word "stable" is quite important for them.

After introducing the "Dart X-1" with a completion rate of 97%, Zhang Liyan took Tang Chao to look at the "Dart X-2" behind him, and the assembly completion of the No. 2 testing machine reached 38%, and the parts were also made 45%.

Perhaps by the time the No. 1 test machine can be put into orbit for testing, the No. 2 test machine will be almost built.

Everyone in the factory is looking forward to it.