The group soon arrived at the Space Shuttle Assembly Center.

The building, located in the middle of the entire assembly center, is the birthplace of the Xiangrui and the cradle of a series of spacecraft produced by Star Technology.

At this moment, in this huge factory, a long strip of metal hull is lying horizontally. The reason why it is said to be a hull is because this huge volume really resembles a nuclear submarine, not a spacecraft sailing in outer space.

Because the long and narrow hull could not withstand its own gravity, the entire hull was divided into three sections, which were fixed and suspended in the air by a solid mechanical skeleton.

From the moment they walked into this factory, the Russian delegation looked at the curious people like Grandma Liu had entered the Grand View Garden.

Mr. Grudev and the other bureaucrats of the Ministry of Economy and Development were fine, and the astronauts who accompanied the delegation of the Ministry of Economy and Development to France had their eyes on the Magpie Bridge when they saw it.

In particular, Professor Kaufman, an expert from the Russian Aerospace Corporation and an academician of the Russian Academy of Engineering, who had been following Grudev, was so surprised that his jaw wanted to fall to the ground.

The Russian delegation paused for a full five minutes next to the behemoth, and Grudev sighed in amazement.

"Unbelievable...... Is this your ship? ”

"Queqiao," Lu Zhou said with a smile, "It's not wrong if you call it a spaceship, sometimes when I look at this thing, I think it's more like a ship than a spacecraft." ”

At this time, Academician Kaufman, who had been standing next to Grudev and had not spoken, finally couldn't help but speak.

"Such a big ship...... How are you going to get into space? ”

As soon as this sentence came out, many Chinese personnel standing next to them suddenly became nervous.

Visit is a visit, but when it comes to the technical level, everyone must be tightly covered.

Minister Yang was about to step forward to make a round and take this topic in another direction, but when he saw Lu Zhou's reassuring eyes handed to him, he immediately stopped talking.

Looking at Academician Kaufman, whose eyes were full of enthusiasm, Lu Zhou smiled faintly and said: "We will launch in three parts, first launch the command module, then the cargo compartment, and finally the engine, and then dock and assemble in outer space. ”

Although it was just an understatement, after hearing it, the Russian experts were shocked.

Spacecraft docking has always been a difficult point in space technology, the more components that need to be docked, the higher the risk of the entire launch process.

However, Lu Zhou's words told him that Hua Guo has now been able to disassemble a spacecraft into three parts, launch it into outer space, and then put it together, even Minister Grudev couldn't help but have a shocked expression on his face at this moment.

"I didn't expect your launch technology to have reached this level......" Looking at the Queqiao lying on the stand, Grudev's face was full of complicated expressions, "May I ask, does it use an electric propulsion system?" ”

Lu Zhou: "Electric propulsion systems are the trend of the future, and the market in outer space does not require a lot of thrust to complete, and the advantages of chemical rockets ...... It ends after approaching the edge of the gravity well. ”

Grudev and Academician Kaufman, who was standing next to him, exchanged a moment of shock in their eyes.

Minister Yang of the Ministry of Commerce coughed lightly, smiled friendlyly, and stepped forward with a smile.

"That's all for the visit to the Space Shuttle Assembly Center, there are still many excellent companies in our Aerospace Industrial Park looking forward to cooperating with you."

"That's right, it's been a long time at Star Technology," Grudev smiled and continued, "Then please ask Minister Yang to take us on a tour of other outstanding enterprises in your country." ”

For the rest of the way, Grudev seemed a little uninterested, and the Russian experts who followed him became critical.

Although there are many excellent aerospace companies in the aerospace industrial park, none of them can reach the level of star technology. Some of them are huge, and the scale of the park alone is several times larger than the factory of Star Technology, but the lack of technology is not very advanced, whether it is the production equipment or the things produced. Although some of them have mastered some very pioneering and even eye-catching technologies, the company itself is not large, and it can only be a parts supplier if it is too large.

However, after discovering this, Grudev also breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

Fortunately, there is only one Star Technology.

If there is another aerospace company with both R&D capabilities and strong production capacity, the strength of China's aerospace industry will be too terrifying......

Lu Zhou did not accompany the Russian delegation for the rest of the trip, but at the diplomatic banquet held at the Purple Mountain Hotel in the evening, Lu Zhou, as the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Construction Committee, still had to go over to enjoy his face.

The banquet was held in Chinese style.

Although he sat at the same table as Grudev, Minister Yang and others, Lu Zhou didn't speak much during the banquet.

He is not very good at this kind of particularly formal banquet occasions, unless someone takes the initiative to talk to him, he usually does not take the initiative to speak, and instead focuses almost half of his attention on the delicious food at the table.

However, Minister Grudev, who was shocked by the technology of Star Technology in the morning, obviously did not intend to let him go so easily, and talked to him calmly during the banquet.

"Actually, I've always been curious, the aerospace industry is not a strong field in China, but it has developed so rapidly in recent years, so it is convenient to reveal how you did it?"

didn't particularly shy away from this question, Lu Zhou smiled and said, "Find a direction, and then do your best." ”

Grudev made a helpless expression and raised the wine glass in his hand.

"It sounds too abstract."

"It depends on how you understand it," Lu Zhou took a shallow taste after clinking glasses with Minister Grudev, and continued, "The so-called finding the right direction is also to find a way to achieve our goals, which is the job of scientific researchers. I am honored that the experts we work with are some very good scholars, and they have helped me solve many difficult problems. ”

Grudev asked with interest: "What is it to be the best?" ”

"Adequate funding, or to put it more specifically, is the country's executive power," Lu continued, "or more colloquially, it is to concentrate on big things and allocate limited resources in the right place." At present, the main problems facing the aerospace industry are, first, commercialization, and second, scale. The former determines the way out, the latter determines the cost. By concentrating on the big things, we've solved the problem of scale. The next step is commercialization, how to cooperate with other countries, how to guide private capital into this field, will become our main task. ”

"Large-scale first, then commercialization?" Grudev smiled and asked, "But does this violate the objective laws of the market economy?" ”

"This question is a matter for the benevolent and the wise," Lu Zhou smiled faintly and asked rhetorically, "When the Queen of Spain funded Columbus's voyage and finally succeeded in discovering the New World, I would like to ask Mr. Grudev, is this in line with the objective laws of the market economy?" ”

Grudev replied: "It's an interesting question, maybe it doesn't fit ...... But is there a connection? ”

"Of course, there is a connection, the ultimate goal of the aerospace industry is to get out of our homeland and open up our living space, and this is essentially the same thing as the discovery of a new continent," Lu Zhou raised his glass, touched the glass lightly with Minister Grudev again, and then continued, "The market is the catalyst for social development, but not everything is in accordance with the laws of the market, at least mathematics has never been. ”

"Hahaha, your point of view is very interesting," Minister Grudev smiled heartily as he drank the red wine in his glass, and looked at Lu Zhou and issued a sincere invitation, "If you have the opportunity, I sincerely invite you to be a guest in Russia, and the scholars in Moscow will definitely be willing to discuss this issue with you in depth." ”

Lu Zhou said with a smile: "There will be a chance, if the situation goes well, I may go to St. Petersburg next year to attend the International Congress of Mathematicians." ”

Minister Grudev solemnly promised: "If you do come, we will definitely hold a grand welcome ceremony for you to witness the friendship between the two scholars!" ”