The new launch mission is scheduled for the evening of August 28.

The location is still at the Xichang launch base.

Rocket assemblies are transferred from the manufacturing plant to the launch base by special train.

It was transferred to the test building at the launch site by special vehicles.

After component assembly and flat placement tests in the test hall.

Rockets and boosters of all stages, which are basically assembled, are transferred from the test building to the launch tower.

Carry out the final assembly work.

But the more critical moments like this go, the more likely it is to go wrong.

The ancients said: Those who travel a hundred miles are half ninety.

Now the launch mission of Zhongxing-8 has also reached such a critical moment.

Even Zhang Xingyang, who has never cared much about failure, is a little nervous at this time.

After all, in the original history, this launch mission was actually a failure.

Although in the previous inspection, many possible problems were also detected.

However, it is still not known whether this launch will be successful, and the original problem is that the ignition separation of the three-stage rocket engine failed, resulting in the failure of normal separation.

In the end, the satellite failed to enter orbit.

This inspection of the three-stage rocket engine was almost done by Zhang Xingyang personally staring at them, and there must be no problems.

But who knows if it's the rocket engine itself that's wrong?

Maybe something is wrong with another system?

No one knows the answer to these things, after all, the last rocket has fallen into the ocean, and it is difficult to trace the specific cause of the accident.

The hoisting of the rocket is still carried out in an orderly manner, and the old workers who are responsible for the rocket assembly work are those who have a lot of experience in rocket hoisting.

It is basically impossible to have any accidents, but Zhang Xingyang still can't help but worry about deviations during hoisting.

"Xingyang, drink some water."

Su Xiao handed over a bottle of mineral water.

"Thank you."

Zhang Xingyang took the bottle and thanked him, but did not drink it immediately, but looked up at the rocket standing like a hill.

"Su Xiao, do you think we will succeed this time?"

Zhang Xingyang, who frowned, seemed to be asking Su Xiao beside him, and as if he was asking himself.

"Everyone has put in a lot of effort this time, and it will definitely succeed!"

Su Xiao didn't know the original ending of this rocket, so he was naturally more optimistic.

But Zhang Xingyang, who knows the development trend behind him, is not so optimistic, but now that the rocket has been on the launch pad, it is like an arrow on the bowstring.

The workers who assemble the rocket move quickly, and then the rocket is left with the last work to be done.

That is, to refuel the rocket.

The fuel used in the Chang-3 rocket is metadimethylhydrazine, a high-performance chemical propellant developed twenty or thirty years ago, which has an extremely high specific impulse, and will automatically ignite when it comes into contact with the oxidant.

Its conventional oxidizing agent is nitrogen tetroxide.

Although metamethylhydrazine has great advantages as a fuel agent, it also has a disadvantage that is difficult to ignore.

That is, it is toxic, and the toxicity is not small, it will be poisoned if it is exposed to a little contact, and it has a certain risk of causing cancer.

This is also an important reason why the use of dimethylhydrazine as fuel will be gradually abandoned in favor of aerospace kerosene as fuel.

Compared with the toxic and relatively expensive metamethylhydrazine, the non-toxic and cheap aerospace kerosene is more favored by everyone.

Of course, the specific impulse of aerospace kerosene is also lower than that of dimethylhydrazine, which is unavoidable.

Once the rocket is fueled, everyone needs to evacuate the scene.

Especially after the last accident, in a relatively short period of time, the launch base no longer dared to let everyone stay relatively close to the rocket.

Unlike the last national live rocket launch, this time apart from a few official newspapers, no other media were invited to report on it.

Rocket Launch Control Center Hall.

Everyone was nervously waiting for the launch time.

There was hardly a sound in the vast hall, especially in the vicinity of Zhang Xingyang, there was only a burst of silence.

Seeing such a solemn atmosphere at the scene, a few young reporters who came to report on the rocket launch didn't know what they should do.

It seems unlikely that you want to interview Zhang Xingyang, the center of attention of this launch.

So I had to turn to the staff who didn't seem to be particularly busy.

"Hello, I would like to ask if you are confident in the success of this rocket launch?"

The little reporter holding the microphone handed the microphone to Su Xiao's mouth and asked.

"Of course! This rocket launch will definitely be a success! ”

Just when the little reporter smiled and was about to ask some more content.

Zhang Xingyang said in a steady tone:

"Ready in a minute!"

It was as if the horn of the start of the war had been heard in the control center, and the state of war was turned on.

Everyone is back to work, ready to get to work!

The rocket launch tower began to slowly let go of the originally erected shelves, allowing the rocket to stand independently on the launch pad.

"50 seconds!"

"40 seconds!"

......

“10！”

“9！”

“8！”

.......

“3！”

“2！”

“1！”

"Ignition!"

As Zhang Xingyang pressed the red plastic button on the control panel.

The engine of the rocket, standing on the launch pad, began to work, ejecting an orange jet of flames.

At this time, the hearts of everyone in the control center had already risen to their throats.

After all, the last time was when the rocket was ignited, and the accident that occurred, it is difficult not to make some not-so-good associations.

"Xicheng, optical tracking is normal!"

Xicheng is the first ground station passed by the rocket during the launch process.

The normal Xicheng report represents the initial launch stage of the rocket, and there were no major accidents like the last time.

Everyone in the control center was also a little relieved at this time, only Zhang Xingyang had not yet put his mind at ease.

After all, only he knew that the most critical time for this rocket was when the third stage was separated.

With a series of reports that tracked normally, everyone's expressions became more and more relaxed, and Zhang Xingyang could even see that someone had a smile on their faces, as if they had seen the success of this launch mission.

Only Zhang Xingyang was still frowning.

"Yuantu No. 6, radar tracking is normal!"

The rocket smoothly entered the sky over the eastern ocean and entered the range of the ocean-going tracking and control ship.

"The first-stage rocket separation is normal!"

Radar tracking showed that the first stage of the rocket had been successfully separated, and the second stage of the rocket had completed the start-up.

The more he got to this time, the more nervous Zhang Xingyang became, and he could feel his heart beating non-stop.

It's like it's about to jump out.

Fortunately, there were no problems with the second-stage rocket.

"The two-stage rocket separation is normal!"

With this prompt, Zhang Xingyang's heart even mentioned the apex.

After all, the last time was the problem that arose here.