"Old Chen, is there anything you want me to do this time?"

Zhang Xingyang was in the conference room of the Rocket Research Institute, looking at the smiling Chen Zhongyan with some puzzlement.

Now both the Beidou navigation system and the low-orbit satellite communication network are on the right track.

The first phase of the Beidou navigation project has completed the launch of two satellites, and only one backup satellite has not yet been launched.

But a spare satellite is obviously not worth Chen Zhongyan's special trip.

As for the second batch of low-orbit communication satellites, there is still a month or two before the launch time.

Even if Chen Zhongyan is worried about the launch of the second batch of communication satellites, it would be fine if he came a day or two in advance.

"Is there something wrong with Beidou or communication satellites?"

Zhang Xingyang finally couldn't help but ask.

"Of course not!" Chen Zhongyan took a sip of tea and spoke.

"Beidou is good, the communication satellite of the One Zero One Research Institute is also not bad, and now the eastern region has used satellite communication!"

Putting down the teacup, Chen Zhongyan's face became serious:

"I'm looking for you this time, I have a new mission for you."

"What task?"

Zhang Xingyang's mind instantly crossed countless space exploration missions, and he leaned over curiously, wanting to know the answer.

"Manned spaceflight, have you heard about it?" Chen Zhongyan first threw out a question.

At this time, Zhang Xingyang also came back to his senses, and Chen Zhongyan came to him this time probably to ask about the manned spaceflight of the Dragon Kingdom.

"Manned spaceflight, at present, there are only two countries in the world that can do this independently."

"One is Da Mao, who inherits the aerospace heritage of the woolly bear, and the other is Eagle Sauce."

Zhang Xingyang first talked about the two countries in the world that can independently develop their aerospace industry.

Then, after a pause, he continued:

"If we want to carry out a manned space program now, there are still many difficulties."

At this time, Chen Zhongyan also showed an interested expression for the first time: "Tell me what are the difficulties?" ”

"First and foremost, the manned spacecraft system is the most important thing, and we don't have any technical reserves in this regard."

Zhang Xingyang said with a frown.

"And judging from the current situation, it is impossible for either Da Mao or Eagle Sauce to give us a chance to get their manned spacecraft technology."

If the time is pushed back by another eight or nine years, just after the separation, it is still possible for Da Mao, who is in ruins, to get some of the manned spaceflight technology under the condition that we pay a high price.

But this possibility is almost impossible now, and Da Mao has breathed a sigh of relief from the state of dying at this time.

Especially in the field of aerospace, it has established good relations with several countries in the West.

So I don't really look down on the dragon kingdom that used to be my little brother.

Originally, China still intended to take Da Mao's manned spacecraft and go into space to take a look, but now it is no longer possible.

"So if you don't solve the problem of manned spacecraft, everything else is nonsense."

"Old Chen, is there any progress on the manned spacecraft?"

After Zhang Xingyang finished talking about his thoughts, he asked Chen Zhongyan, who had not said his real reason for coming to the Rocket Research Institute.

Chen Zhongyan tilted his head slightly, looked at the summer rainstorm that was still raining outside the window, and said after a while:

"The manned spacecraft is currently progressing relatively smoothly, and it is expected that the first launch mission will be carried out by the end of this year or next year at the earliest."

"Last month, the flight control building dedicated to manned spaceflight was completed."

"Soon, a spacecraft simulation will be carried out in the flight control building to test the entire process from launch to the safe return of astronauts."

Chen Zhongyan glanced at Zhang Xingyang, who was still a little dazed, and paused.

"Old Chen, this matter has nothing to do with us, right?"

"Didn't they decide to use the long 2F a long time ago?"

The reason why Zhang Xingyang did not invest too much energy in this matter is mainly because the relationship with the Rocket Research Institute is not very large.

"Before, I decided to use the Long 2F, but I recommended their Hongyan rocket to them at the beginning of the year."

"After half a year of evaluation, they decided to replace the original Long 2F rocket and use your Hongyan rocket instead!"

Chen Zhongyan finally said the purpose of coming over this time, that is, manned spaceflight will use their rocket!

However, Zhang Xingyang still has some surprises, after all, there is still a year at most before the launch time.

The temporary replacement of the launch vehicle, the work that needs to be re-carried out is not ordinary.

"Old Chen, why do you suddenly have to change to a Hongyan rocket?"

Zhang Xingyang asked a little incomprehensibly.

"Because you have a better carrying capacity!"

"You also know very well that the carrying capacity of the Long 2F rocket is only 7.8 tons even in LEO orbit."

"The carrying capacity of your Hongyan rocket is almost three times that of them, and there are more experimental equipment and survival materials necessary for various astronauts to be launched into space at one time!"

Chen Zhongyan said to Zhang Xingyang seriously.

In fact, if it weren't for the carrying capacity of the Hongyan rocket, which was too tempting, it would not have replaced the Chang 2F rocket, which was originally used for manned space launches.

After all, in any case, the Chang-2F rocket has made a lot of special modifications for the manned plan.

For example, an escape system for the safety of astronauts, and an additional fault detection and handling system.

None of these are on the Hongyan rocket, if the Hongyan rocket is selected as the launch rocket for manned spaceflight.

Then it is necessary to retrofit these systems before the launch mission.

"The most important thing is to consider the second phase of the future manned space program, as well as the third phase of the program!"

Chen Zhongyan said the long-term reason why the top management is interested in the Hongyan rocket.

The domestic manned space program is divided into a three-step strategy.

The first step is to launch unmanned and manned spacecraft to safely send astronauts into low-earth orbit for earth observation and scientific experiments, and to return astronauts safely to the ground.

This step is also the simplest of the three-step plan, requiring only the ability to safely send a person into space and return safely.

The second step is to continue to break through the basic technology of manned spaceflight:

Multi-person multi-day flight, astronauts out of the capsule to walk in space, complete the rendezvous and docking of the spacecraft and the space module.

On the basis of breakthroughs in these technologies, we will launch a short-term manned space laboratory and build a complete and complete space engineering system.

This step is why the top management would want to switch to launch rockets.

The weight of the short-term space experiment station, which did not exceed eight tons in the original plan, was largely limited by the carrying capacity of the launch vehicle.

If the Hongyan rocket with a LEO orbital carrying capacity of 26 tons is used, then the weight of the space laboratory can be made even larger!

The third step is to establish a permanent space laboratory and build China's space engineering system.

"Understood, we will make contact with the manned spaceflight side as soon as possible and transform the Hongyan rocket into a manned spacecraft."

Zhang Xingyang agreed very happily.

In his heart, he remembered the "Tiangong" space port in his previous life, which had a nine-story complex space structure.

It is capable of simultaneously mooring more than a hundred large starships with a mass of more than 10,000 tons.

A super-large space port with a mass of more than 10 million tons, a miracle of the human starry sky!

(End of chapter)