China, Qiongdao Island, Wenchang Space Launch Center.

This is a coastal launch base and one of the few low-latitude launch sites in the world. Geosynchronous orbit satellites, large-mass polar-orbit satellites, large-tonnage space stations and deep space probes are all launched here.

On that day, millions of tourists flocked to the city of Wenchang, vying to see the space launch mission.

The huge ‘Long March 9’ carrier rocket is already on the launch pad waiting for launch.

The Long March 4800 carrier rocket is a super-heavy carrier rocket developed by China. It is also the rocket with the strongest carrying capacity in the world. Its thrust reaches a terrifying 177 tons, its low-Earth orbit carrying capacity is 68 tons, and its lunar orbit carrying capacity is tons.

This rocket, which is hundreds of meters tall, is absolutely huge. It can be seen clearly even from a distance with a telescope.

The ‘Long March 9’ super-heavy-lift carrier rocket was developed by China for manned lunar landing and can meet the needs of future manned lunar landing, Mars exploration and even deeper space exploration.

The ‘Long March 9’ super-heavy-lift carrier rocket is also the rocket with the strongest carrying capacity on Earth.

This is the fifth mission of the Long March 9. The last time it carried out a space mission was to send a space capsule to the moon for an unmanned lunar landing.

The mission carried out this time is also an unmanned lunar landing.

It can be said that the ‘Long March 9’ super-heavy-lift carrier rocket represents the pinnacle of current human beings on Earth in terms of carrier rocket technology.

Anyone who watches it will be excited.

The cost of building a Long March 30 carrier rocket is as high as billion yuan, which is absolutely very high.

The space capsule carried on the Long March 9 super-heavy carrier rocket at this time is China’s space capsule – Guanghan Palace No. 2. The lunar space capsule before this was Guanghan Palace No. 1.

Compared with Guanghan Palace No. 67, the mass of Guanghan Palace No. has been further improved, reaching tons, which is almost close to the theoretical carrying value of “Long March “.

As for why Guanghan Palace No. 2 is so heavy, it is naturally because Guanghan Palace No. 2 is equipped with various bionic robots, engineering vehicles, and instruments and equipment.

When it comes to manned lunar landing, China is no joke; it’s serious.

The command center seemed very tense.

Every space mission makes people very nervous.

The losses caused by a failed launch are staggering.

Like this time, if the launch fails, the losses will reach a staggering billions of RMB.

More importantly, it will have a negative impact on morale and delay the original plan!

After all, it is not easy to manufacture a ‘Long March 9’ super-heavy carrier rocket, and it is not easy to manufacture space capsules, robots and engineering vehicles.

The costs are quite staggering.

Don’t think that cars and robots that can be used on Earth can also be used on the moon!

In fact, it is useless!

Because the moon’s gravity is only one-sixth of the earth’s!

Moreover, the moon has no air, and the temperature difference between day and night is very large. During the day, the temperature of the moon’s surface where the sun shines vertically is as high as 127°C, and at night its surface temperature can drop to -183°C.

These lunar robots and lunar engineering vehicles are specially developed based on the actual conditions on the moon.

There were millions of tourists on site to watch the launch mission, and the number of people watching the live broadcast around the world exceeded 1 million.

At this time, everyone was waiting for the countdown to ignition.

Finally, it’s the last 10 seconds of the ignition countdown.

“10!”

“9!”

“8!”

“.”

“3!”

“2!”

“1!”

“ignition!”

Tongues of flame spurted out from the bottom of the rocket, and the engine started, emitting an astonishing roar. The terrifying thrust made the Long March 9 super-heavy carrier rocket fly straight into the sky.

One second, two seconds, three seconds, the rocket was safe and sound, and no accidents occurred.

On a dark night, there is only one rocket rushing into the vast space!

In the command center, everyone’s expressions eased a little. During a rocket launch, the first ten seconds are crucial. Most launch accidents occur during this time!

Of course, we can’t take it lightly now.

As long as the mission is not completed, it is not considered a success!
When the rocket reaches the predetermined height, the first-stage rocket engine shuts down and the first-stage body begins to separate.

Such drop areas will be announced in advance and ships will be asked to detour in advance.

Because when this rocket falls down, such a large body, falling from such a great height, the power is equivalent to that of a powerful missile.

Why are the United States, Russia, and China unique in the field of missiles and belong to the world’s first echelon? It is because these three countries are the strongest in the world in terms of rockets.

In a sense, rockets and missiles are actually the same.

After the first stage separated, the rocket continued to accelerate and rise in altitude.

Finally, the predetermined height was reached and the second-stage rocket body and fairing began to separate.

At this time, the rocket has flown out of the atmosphere and the fairing has separated.

The third-stage rocket engine began to ignite, carrying the “Guanghan Palace No. 2” space capsule to accelerate towards the moon.

After the flight, “Guanghan Palace No. 2” finally reached the predetermined distance, the third-stage rocket engine was shut down, and space braking began.

The speed must be reduced to the first cosmic speed of the moon so that “Guanghan Palace No. 2” can be captured by the moon’s gravity and enter the moon’s orbit.

Space braking is just four short words, but it contains precision control technology and is truly high-end technology.

There are only three countries in the world that control this technology.

Finally, “Guanghan Palace No. 2” was successfully captured by the moon’s gravity, entered the moon’s orbit, and began to orbit the moon.

After moving around the moon in one orbit, Guanghan Palace No. 2 began to change its orbit.

After continuously changing orbits, it finally reached the preset orbit and coordinates, and the “Guanghan Palace No. 2” space capsule entered the moon like a parabola.

However, when it reached a certain altitude, the third-stage rocket engine ignited, and the thrust it generated continuously reduced the space speed of Guanghan Palace No. 2.

The speed keeps decreasing and the altitude keeps falling.

“Guanghan Palace No. 1” and the robot, like a guiding signal tower, constantly navigate “Guanghan Palace No. 2”.

People all over the world were watching the live broadcast. Although the signal was delayed due to distance, they saw that Guanghan Palace No. 2 landed steadily at the preset landing site without capsizing.

At this moment, I don’t know how many people are applauding and cheering for this feat.

The technology revealed here is quite amazing.

The control is so precise and the technology is so terrifying.

The command center was also filled with cheers and applause.

Everyone cheered and was excited!
Twice in a row, it succeeded!
This once again proves that China has the ability to send humans to the moon.

China has had a dream of space travel since ancient times.

The Chinese, in particular, have a unique feeling for the moon.

In ancient times, there was a romantic sentiment about Chang’e flying to the moon. Even in the 21st century, countless Chinese people have an obsession, that is, China should send humans to the moon to see if there is Guanghan Palace, laurel, moon rabbit and Chang’e, and to grow vegetables and crops on the moon.

The Chinese are no longer satisfied with farming on Earth and want to farm on the moon.

And now, we are one step closer to this dream!

Moscow, Roscosmos.

Today, the top executives of the space agency were watching the live broadcast, and the person sitting in the first chair was not the director of the space agency, and even the first five chairs did not have a seat for the director of the space agency, Igor Komarov. The first five were all bigwigs.

Especially the big guy sitting in the top chair, he can be called the current Tsar of Russia, and he has been holding the highest power in Russia for almost 20 years!

Turn your hand and clouds will appear, turn your hand again and rain will fall!

After taking over Crimea and helping Syria finally achieve peace, the prestige of this big man was further enhanced.

In Russia, his approval rating has never been lower than 70%, and he is also the man Russian women most want to marry.

Similarly, he has many fans in the world, and his tough guy image is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Drown terrorists in toilets, strike hard at oligarchs, drive battle tanks, fighter jets, strategic bombers, ride horses, swim in the snow.
Too many of his stories are spread all over the world.

At this moment, the atmosphere here seemed very depressing. As the hatch of “Guanghan Palace No. 2” opened, the robot walked out of the hatch and walked down the steps steadily.

Robots came out of the hatch one by one.

There are also construction vehicles!
Everyone at the scene had serious looks in their eyes. There were no cheers or applause.

When the capsule door is closed, the assistant turns off the live broadcast.

“Everyone has seen it, China’s aerospace technology has developed to this level, and can transport a space capsule weighing nearly 70 tons to the surface of the moon, as well as robots and engineering vehicles!” Vladimir said in a deep voice, “When will our aerospace industry catch up?”

Vladimir’s eyes swept over everyone present, and no one dared to look him in the eye.

Vladimir sighed in his heart. He came from the Soviet era and witnessed the glory of the Soviet Union.

At that time, China was far inferior to the Soviet Union.

The only country in the world that can be a rival to the Soviet Union is the United States!
Even in terms of military strength at that time, the Soviet Union was superior to the United States.

As for the field of aerospace, at that time, only the Soviet Union and the United States were competing in the world’s aerospace field, and other countries were almost negligible.

But now, things have changed!

Divide the family and each receive a share of the inheritance.

Russia undoubtedly received the largest share of the inheritance. Russia inherited a large amount of inheritance, including about 80% of the weapons and 90% of the nuclear weapons.
This rich heritage makes Russia a powerful country second only to the United States in the world.

But after the separation, life did not get better, and was even worse than before.

The Soviet Union had a complete industrial system back then, but after everyone split up and had their farewell dinner, the industrial system became incomplete.

Even now, Russia still does not have a complete industrial system.

After all these years, Russia is still living off its past achievements, with very limited actual progress.

But now, no one can ignore China!

China has strong national strength and the most complete industrial system in the world. It is the real world factory. With strong economic power, it has truly become a player in the international situation.

In the field of aerospace, China is making rapid progress.

Let’s look at Russia. Although it has manned space missions every year, even astronauts from the United States and Europe are sent into space to the International Space Station by Russia.

But going further, Russia appears to be unable to do so.

Although Russia has also launched a manned lunar landing plan, such as launching satellites and probes to the moon, it has also brought back 300 grams of lunar soil from the moon.

But there is no doubt that compared with the actions of the United States and China in the space field, Russia can be said to be a runner-up.

Ultimately, Russia’s economy is not strong enough to support it.

After all, space travel is very expensive.

“When can we carry out manned lunar landing?” Vladimir said in a deep voice, “I want to hear the truth!”

Igor Komarov stood up and said, “Mr. President, if all goes well, we can carry out a manned moon landing in 2025.”

Vladimir nodded slightly, which was about ten years.

“Next, the government will allocate more budget to you. You have to work hard. You were our little brothers back then, but now you have surpassed us!” Vladimir said in a deep voice.

Igor Komarov quickly assured: “Mr. President, we will definitely complete the manned moon landing!”

European Space Agency.

The organization was founded in 1975, has 22 member states and is headquartered in Paris.

At this time, senior executives and engineers of the European Space Agency were also watching the “Guanghan Palace II” space capsule make a soft landing on the moon.

“When can our ‘Athena’ carrier rocket be launched for the first time?” Jan Werner asked in a deep voice after closing the live broadcast.

Jan Werner was appointed Director General of the European Space Agency this year.

Ever since the European Space Agency decided to carry out independent space exploration, it has begun to pay attention to the research and development of launch vehicles.

Before this, the European Space Agency only had three launch vehicles, namely the Ariane rocket, the Vega rocket and the Soyuz-CT rocket.

The Ariane rocket is the first launch vehicle developed by the European Space Agency. It can deliver a payload of 1.85 tons into a geosynchronous transfer orbit or a payload of 2.5 tons into a sun-synchronous circular orbit at an altitude of 790 kilometers. This is also the model widely used by the European Space Agency.

Later, the European Space Agency realized that it needed a rocket with low launch thrust, which should be the younger brother of Ariane, and this led to the development of the Vega rocket, which can send a 1.5-ton payload into a polar orbit at an altitude of 700 kilometers, or a 1.2-ton payload into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 1200 kilometers.

As for the ‘Soyuz-CT’, it was developed by the European Space Agency and the Russian Space Agency in cooperation, based on the Russian ‘Soyuz’ rocket. It is a medium-sized rocket, jointly developed by both parties and the results are shared.

The ‘Athena’ rocket is a large rocket independently developed by the European Space Agency. It is used by the European Space Agency to independently carry out manned space flight and space station construction, launch lunar probes and other deep space probes.

A large rocket like this can only be developed by ourselves. If we want to cooperate with the United States or Russia in development, they are simply not willing to do so.

If the European Space Agency wants to send a spacecraft into space for manned space flight, the rocket’s LEO carrying capacity must be at least 8 to 10 tons.

This is a launch vehicle that the European Space Agency does not have.

In today’s space boom, the European Space Agency also wants to be the protagonist rather than a supporting role.

“The first ‘Athena’ rocket will be launched for the first time next year!” an old man replied.

Developing a large launch vehicle is not an easy task.

Jan Werner sighed inwardly. The first ‘Athena’ rocket will not be launched until next year, which means that the first manned space flight will not be carried out until at least 2020.

Europe lags far behind in manned space flight.

Even though Europe’s space technology has many unique features, when it comes to carrying out independent space missions, the gap in comprehensive strength becomes apparent.

It’s okay for the European Space Agency to launch satellites to the earth, but when it comes to manned space flight, there’s still a long way to go, not to mention more space technology.

“What about the launch site? When will it be completed?” asked Jan Werner.

Originally, the European Space Agency’s space launch center was located in French Guiana on the northern Atlantic coast of South America, covering an area of ​​9.06 square kilometers. It was under the leadership of the French National Center for Space Studies and was mainly responsible for the launch of scientific satellites, application satellites and sounding rockets, as well as the testing and launch of some related launch vehicles.

However, with the drastic changes in the international situation, France not only lost its interests in Africa, but also lost many French territories.

French Guiana is naturally one of them.

This forced the European Space Agency to re-select a location to build a space launch center. However, Europe is a country with high latitudes, so the launch centers established there are also at high latitudes, which puts them at a disadvantage in utilizing the power of the earth’s rotation.

This also means that the carrying capacity of the same type of rocket developed by the European Space Agency is 15% lower than that of China!

“The launch site will be fully completed in another two months. Three months after completion, we can carry out launch missions!” said ‘Jacques’ who is in charge of the space launch site.

“Everyone, we must show results, otherwise our funding may be cut!” Jan Werner said, “China and the United States are already ahead in the field of aerospace, and we can’t fall too far behind, otherwise we in Europe will have no say in space in the future!”

In today’s world, the saying ‘whoever controls the space controls the power to win’ is becoming louder and louder.

The importance of space is beyond doubt.

There is no concept of national sovereignty in space, nor is it affected by climate change in the atmosphere. Space platforms can freely fly over any country or region in the world, and the sun and the moon are unimpeded. These advantages are incomparable to the commanding heights in traditional warfare. It can be said that the emergence of the commanding heights in space will make all the commanding heights on the traditional battlefield no longer exist.

In information warfare, the unique advantages of space are further expanded and strengthened. Without the right to control space, it is impossible to control information and air, and there is no right to control sea and land. It can be said that whoever controls space has the right to win the war.

It is precisely because the European Space Agency knows the importance of space that it can continue to receive funding, accelerate the development of space technology, and thus gain the right to speak in space.

If you don’t have the right to speak in space, then you belong to the group sitting at the table with children. You are not qualified to sit at the table with adults, and naturally you are not qualified to talk to adults.

Whether the European Space Agency is carrying out independent manned space projects, manned lunar landing projects, or developing Europe’s “Galileo” satellite navigation system, it is all based on space layout. (End of this chapter)