This is how black technology should be used

Chapter 244 Super rocket deterrence and demonstration operations are ready

The Sea Dragon's paper data are very exaggerated, but the exaggeration only stays on paper.

Because it's too rough.

Its engine is a simple pile of thrust, so the extremely simple structure makes it have a huge thrust and wastes fuel at the same time.

Note that it is not used, but wasted.

So it will weigh 18000 tons after it is filled with fuel, and part of the fuel here is for it to "waste".

When this problem came out, its designers wanted to give up for a while, but fortunately, its estimated development and launch costs were very attractive.

How should I put it, the transportation price per kilogram at that time was less than 70 federal currency, which is equivalent to less than 600 federal currency per kilogram now.

This is a very fascinating statistic.

It is important to know that the target price of Emeron's "Heavy Eagle" rocket is about 1500 federal currency per kilogram, while "Eagle 2000" is expected to be controlled at about [-] federal currency per kilogram.

In fact, the current price per kilogram of Eagle Nine is around 3000 Federal Dollars.

This is still the "recovery magic arrow" under the blessing of technology.

The price per kilogram of the space shuttle, which was also expected to be high at the beginning, is now close to 20000 federal currency.

The unit price per kilogram of other rockets also fluctuates between 10000 and 4000 federal currency, and Musk’s Eagle series is already the cheapest.

But in fact, the attractive price per kilogram of the Sea Dragon rocket is not real, because it is calculated based on 240 launches per year.

Think about it, it can carry more than 500 tons of cargo to orbit in one shot, while the total weight of the International Space Station is only more than 400 tons.

Send a space station.

Of course, the premise is that the rocket fairing can fit inside.

In reality, even if several Sea Dragons are used to assemble an International Space Station, 240 launches a year are enough to assemble dozens of International Space Stations.

However, an international space station has been built for more than ten years, and it is still a multinational cooperation. How can it be given the task of building more than a dozen space stations in a year?
Others, like the grandiose Mars mission, don't require as many launches either.

Even the Freedom Federation was caught in the quagmire of the rainforest war, and even the Apollo 18 and 19 manned missions to the moon were cancelled, and there was no fund to invest in the Mars mission.

There is no similar demand for commercial launches. Even the most massive satellites sent into geosynchronous orbit by humans now weigh only a few tons, and its super capacity of hundreds of tons is not needed at all.

Later, people calculated that if the Sea Dragon rocket was significantly reduced to 4 launches per year, its price would soar to 5776 federal currency per kilogram, which is about equal to the current 46000 federal currency.

This price is outrageous, more than twice the price of the space shuttle.

One of the reasons for the decommissioning of the space shuttle is that the price not only did not decrease as expected, but became more and more expensive.

And very unsafe.

Sea Dragon Rocket is more expensive than it, how can it be used?
In fact, the demonstration team of the Sea Dragon rocket also ignored another factor that could have been controllable, and that was fuel costs.

Although sea launch can save the construction and operation costs of auxiliary buildings, it also means that there is no large storage tank for fuel and oxidant.

Moreover, the thermal conductivity of water is much greater than that of air, so the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen of the Sea Dragon rocket cannot be refueled at the dock, or they will almost evaporate when dragged to the launch site.

The fuel tank of the Sea Dragon rocket does not have any advanced insulation devices, everything is kept simple.

In addition, liquid hydrogen is not a fuel that is easy to transport. In the era when Hailong technology was demonstrated, the technology of specialized liquid hydrogen transport ships was not yet mature, so the only solution at that time was to "in situ" electrolyze seawater at the launch site to generate liquid hydrogen and liquid hydrogen. oxygen.

But that method is extremely time-consuming, and it is also extremely energy-consuming. Ordinary ships simply cannot supply that much energy.

So at that time, the technical team also admitted that if the Sea Dragon rocket wanted to launch, it had to be assisted by a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, because only the nuclear reactor of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier could provide enough energy to complete the production of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen within a reasonable time.

This……

This design that gives up fuel utilization and pursues extreme thrust, although it has a primitive recovery system, still happens to be the "seven inches" of the Sea Dragon rocket. Coupled with various factors, the Sea Dragon rocket finally stays at on paper design.

Even if it's a super giant.

Even from the design point of view, it can really fly.

And now, practical technology is trying to reproduce the glory of Sea Dragon?
"I don't think this rocket is Sea Dragon's second. Even if the 'trailer' in the movie is not used as evidence, the new launch pad of the Practical Science and Technology Space Center is always evidence. The new rocket stands on it."

"Well, although the construction of the launch pad has not been completed, and the rocket is only two cans, it can be seen that the two should be matched during the stacking test."

"I feel that practical technology should be able to make this rocket, and it is different from the previous Sea Dragon rocket, more... er, practical."

"Of course it's different. Hailong's design is too extreme, and the technology at that time was indeed not as advanced as it is now. It is actually a burden to make it so big. The practical technology is backed by the super fuel metal hydrogen, and it can do whatever it wants."

"Yes, take Emmalon's super rocket starship as an example. Its booster has a diameter of 9 meters and a height of more than 60 meters. 20 meters high, too stocky."

"However, why do I feel that the booster of the practical science and technology rocket has more fuel than the starship booster? This rocket uses so much super fuel for one flight?"

"That's right. Although the length is shortened by half, the diameter is more than twice as large. This is too much fuel. Practical technology is going to build a rocket with a take-off mass of more than [-] tons?"

"The take-off mass is more than [-] tons? Good guy, this is really going to be compared to Sea Dragon. But after exceeding [-] tons, can the ground launch really support it?"

"Sea Dragon has a diameter of 23 meters and a height of 150 meters, but including the very long tip at the very top, the take-off mass is 20 tons. The super rocket of practical technology has a diameter of 80 meters and a height of [-] meters, but it feels that the cargo compartment will not be small, so The take-off mass should not reach [-] tons, of course, it is estimated that it will not be much less, seven or eight thousand tons."

"Seven to eight thousand tons is not a lot. I wonder if the ground launch equipment can support it?"

"Not to mention other things, the 30-meter-high booster can definitely hold a lot of fuel, and considering the super performance of metal hydrogen, I feel that this super rocket is either powerful, or it is intended to be refueled and used multiple times."

"Hey, I can think of the capacity against the sky. After all, with the help of metal hydrogen fuel, the single-stage rocket-engined aerospace planes have a capacity coefficient of 10%. Now the super rocket that flies halfway and throws away the dead weight must have a capacity coefficient. Higher, it really has a take-off mass of seven or eight thousand tons, and the low-orbit capacity is estimated to be piled up to thousands of tons, and it can be used for multiple times with one filling... This, the rocket can still play like this?"

To be honest, people really didn't expect to be able to play like this before this kind of gameplay was said.

Rockets, people’s earliest impressions are disposable space vehicles. Even if there are reusable rockets later, its fuel is also disposable, that is, it is only enough for one launch.

At most, there will be some fuel for landing when the booster is separated, but there will definitely not be too much fuel.

Want to save some fuel for the next takeoff?
It is absolutely impossible.

There is simply no way to save more "inefficient" fuel.

But practical technology, the super rocket that uses super fuel, makes this possibility no longer false.

Of course, whether it is specific or not depends on the detailed data released by Practical Technology in the later stage. Now everything is guessed by netizens.

But even though it was just a guess, compared to the carnival netizens, the Freedom Federation felt tremendous pressure.

Especially Emmaron, who is also developing a super rocket.

Now the space engineering competition between Fanxing and the Federation has entered a fever pitch, and Fanxing has just completed the manned moon landing, disrupting all their plans.

The moon is temporarily overwhelmed by the stars.

As for the advantages of the Freedom Federation's deep space exploration... Sorry, the general public doesn't understand it at all, and even if it is publicized, it won't have much influence.

As for the commercial space station, both sides are going on, but there is no cabin to go to the sky, so nothing can be seen yet.

In terms of commercial sky tourism, the Freedom Federation has a purely commercial process and has actually implemented it, using Emmalon's Eagle [-] and Crew Dragon spacecraft.

But Fanxing's progress is not slow, and even though it has not yet carried out commercial manned operations, its vehicle is an aerospace plane, which looks more powerful than a manned rocket.

And now manned modification is being done, and the first manned mission to orbit will be carried out next month.

Once the Wooden Kite aerospace plane can carry people, the Freedom Federation will lose another round, and there is no way to get back in a short time.

After all, aerospace planes are really better than manned rockets.

So to say that the Freedom Federation can really win a game in the aerospace field, it is probably Emmalon's super rocket starship.

From the beginning of the development of the rocket to the present, as the demand changes, the size of the rocket has been changing, but there are only a few super-heavy rockets that can be called shocking.

In addition to the demand problem, the super-heavy rocket has a capacity of more than 100 tons and a height of about 100 meters. A giant with a take-off mass of three to four thousand tons can shock people as long as it stands up.

And Emeron's super rocket starship is the tallest rocket ever, its height can reach 120 meters, and its diameter of 9 meters is quite bluffing.

The most important thing is that its take-off mass exceeds 5000 tons, which is a "kiloton" level higher than the previous three-to-four thousand-ton super-heavy rocket, and its carrying capacity has also reached two to three hundred tons from the hundred-ton level. It can be called "Super Rocket"!
More importantly, it can be recycled and reused, and the recycled carrying capacity can also reach 150 tons.

Other super-heavy rockets can only be used once, and it takes a lot of effort to "self-destruct" to carry hundreds of tons of cargo to low-Earth orbit, but the super rocket starship can be easily transported dozens or hundreds of times, and it is properly crushed level.

But even such a powerful super rocket is dangerous.

At the beginning, the starship rocket also started from the fuel tank, and it also did an outdoor stacking test.

The height of Practical Technology's new rocket is only 80 meters, which is far behind the starship rocket's 120 meters, but it can't stop people from having a large diameter.

9 meters to 20 meters, there is no way.

What the netizens can analyze, the aerospace experts of the Federation can analyze more.

"It would be terrifying if a rocket of this type could ever be built."

"So... can they make it?"

"It's very possible. There are many factors that affect the rocket. Among them, the super-large fuel tank is a very important item. But now the opponent has been built, and it doesn't look like a model, so at least the rocket body is not a big problem."

"Well, and with the super-fuel metal hydrogen, the flight control system should be fine. It's not a big problem to fly. The biggest problem now is whether it can be reused. This is also related to whether the Federation can continue to dominate."

"Emaron is an expert in this area, tell me."

Seeing everyone in the meeting room looking at him, Emmaron frowned and said: "Our company has analyzed the bottom shape of that rocket, and we can be sure that it will be equipped with landing brackets, which means that practical technology will be designed at the beginning. It’s a recyclable super rocket.”

"As for whether they can do a good job in recycling, I think it is also possible."

"Currently, the latest model of the Starry Long March [-] and two commercial rockets have been recycled and reused, and practical technology is involved in this. In addition, it has mastered the technology of landing on the moon, and they are all heavy equipment, so As far as recycling technology is concerned, they have mastered it very well."

"Of course, this super rocket that just appeared is too huge. Whether the recovery technology mastered by Practical Technology can be successfully used on it is still uncertain."

After listening to Emmalon's introduction, the others were silent, and then someone asked: "Then assuming that Practical Technology has mastered all the technologies, when do you think their rocket will make its first flight?"

"This one……"

Emmaron hesitated and said firmly: "I can't be sure about this, but I can guarantee that the starship will make its first flight early next year!"

This is what the people in the conference room were waiting for!
"it is good!"

The chief of staff praised it loudly.

"Emaron, you really deserve to be an aerospace tycoon of the Federation. With your words, we decided to give you some more funds to make your super rocket fly faster!"

No matter how powerful the super rocket of practical science and technology is in the future, as long as it has not taken off, the threat is the future.

Some officials of the Federation have always followed the commander-in-chief. When the commander-in-chief changes, their official career will come to an end, so they are only responsible for the affairs during their term of office.

There are already precedents for super rockets, that is, Emeron's starship, and he is also a very radical person. His starship has gone from the state of the fuel tank to the state that is about to be completed for several years.

This has to include the full support of the Federation for the past year!

Thinking about the more powerful super rocket of Practical Science and Technology, even if it doesn't need more time, it probably won't be much faster than Emalon's starship, so the next thing is just a headache for later officials.

Things are happening frequently now, and Deng Zi's re-election... I'm afraid it's on the line. The previous commander-in-chief has already clamored for "returning like lightning".

If that's the case, then they will try their best to do some big things during their term of office, so as to find the best way out for themselves.

By the way, preparations for the demonstration flight in the starry southern waters are almost ready.

As long as this matter is done beautifully, maybe Deng Zi still has hope.

Even if there is no hope, it will not affect them to become executives in companies that enter the military-industrial complex after leaving office.

In the Free Federation, the executives of the military-industrial complex basically won.

As long as... the demonstration goes well!
(End of this chapter)