Super technology leader

"……Everyone can see that spacecraft in the distance. It is humanity's first aerospace vehicle capable of single-stage-to-orbit, or what Navigator Corporation defines as the orbital shuttle—Dart X. It has undergone numerous unmanned test flights, and now it is finally going to conduct a manned test flight. Let's wait and see…"

"……This orbital shuttle is already very different from its initial appearance. Almost every test flight brings new changes. It has updated its technology and used new materials. After increasing its strength, some areas have adopted a hollow design, directly reducing the empty weight by 500 kilograms. Relatively, the payload capacity has increased by 500 kilograms, reaching 2.5 tons……"

"……According to the currently available information, this orbital shuttle has a passenger capacity of eight, with two pilots. However, there is only one main pilot because the degree of automation is very high, so the co-pilot's pressure is very small, and they also serve as a flight attendant. The pilot sitting in the cockpit for the manned test flight today is called Du Kangsheng, and the co-pilot and flight attendant is called Li Yuling……"

In front of the cameras, reporters from various media outlets were constantly reciting their prepared lines. Some of these shots were live broadcasts, while others were recording footage to be edited and broadcast later.

Through their introductions, viewers in front of the live broadcast who didn't pay much attention to this area also gained some understanding of what was being flown today.

"Humanity's first orbital shuttle!"

This title is quite impressive.

Moreover, the "humanity's first unmanned exploration spacecraft" mentioned a few days ago also seemed to be from this company. With that said, this Starlight Navigator company is quite awesome, always coming up with new things.

Compared to these viewers, those knowledgeable enthusiasts were really busy, watching the clearest live broadcast they could find while chatting wildly in several enthusiast groups.

"This modification is too awesome. I remember the initial data said it had a passenger capacity of four, but now it's not only eight, but it's also upgraded the technology and increased the payload by 0.5 tons?"

"That's right, it's that awesome. And I saw the internal pictures released by their company. The riding experience is getting better and better."

"Haha, I've also seen the previous cabin layout diagrams. The early designs were completely utilitarian, designed entirely for entering orbit. After they could easily enter orbit, they finally paid attention to customer experience."

"If that thing was official aerospace equipment, it would actually be considered luxurious, but for commercial purposes, it's still not enough."

"Ah, you guys are asking for too much. If I could ride this orbital shuttle, I wouldn't care about the riding experience."

"You're right, if I could ride it, I wouldn't care either, but I heard a ticket costs over a million dollars. I can't afford it."

"Yeah, this price is actually very cheap for manned orbital flights, but it's still too expensive for ordinary people……"

If Tang Chao could hear them, he would definitely be helpless, because the cost of the orbital shuttle is what it is, and maintenance and use are not that convenient. To make money, the price has to be slightly "increased."

Fortunately, Navigator doesn't plan to use this model to always do manned spaceflight business. Its main revenue method is still selling complete vehicles. When there are more companies doing commercial space tourism, the price will naturally come down.

Even when Navigator Corporation brings out the real spaceplane, it will definitely trigger a new round of space orbital revolution, and the price will definitely be more affordable.

Of course, the ticket price probably won't be too low either, after all, it's entering space, not taking a bus to a supermarket one stop away.

Right now, he is busy. Even if he heard these things, he wouldn't have time to care. He is staring at the screens in the control room, waiting for the final test results.

Today, he is the commander-in-chief.

After the ground crew, pilots, and various measurement and control positions confirmed that the data and preparations were okay, the data was finally summarized to Tang Chao.

Looking at the line of "Passed" prompts, he looked at everyone again. Seeing that everyone was looking at him, he said into the microphone, "You can take off."

As soon as he issued the order, Du Kangsheng and Li Yuling in the shuttle cockpit immediately said, "Understood!"

Navigator Corporation attached great importance to today's manned test flight, so there were super clear cameras everywhere, accurately capturing this scene.

After Tang Chao issued the order, the screen switched to the cockpit and a side shot of the shuttle.

In the cockpit, the pilot's dialogue was clearly audible.

"Program start, thrust two-six!" The main pilot, Du Kangsheng, said the standard term to Li Yuling, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat.

Tang Chao took these terms from Planet Kan.

"Understood! Thrust two-six! One-two engines have been started!"

Li Yuling answered with a serious face, and then clicked two buttons, "One-two engines have been started!"

Hearing this, Du Kangsheng held the throttle and pushed it forward at the same time, locking the lever in the second gear.

After they completed these actions, two of the six engines in the center of the aircraft's tail immediately spewed out hot and fierce flames, pushing the aircraft to run on the long runway.

Dust flew behind the aircraft, and even the lawn behind was gone, leaving only a more spectacular cloud of dust stirred up by the tail flames.

Those lawns were not blown away by this flight, but were gone long ago. It was the same every time it took off, so the company was too lazy to lay them again.

The side-mounted recording equipment faithfully recorded the huge roar of the engine and this spectacular scene. The audience who saw this scene cheered excitedly.

At this time in the cockpit, Du Kangsheng and Li Yuling had been pressed into their seats by the thrust.

Fortunately, it was not uncomfortable, not as intense as their usual training.

After the aircraft taxied over one-third of the distance on the runway, Du Kangsheng said again: "Thrust four-six!"

"Understood! Thrust four-six! Three-four engines start!"

Li Yuling turned on two more buttons, and Du Kangsheng also pushed the throttle lever forward two gears. Two more engines were turned on at the rear of the aircraft.

With twice the thrust, combined with the lift of the wings, the aircraft gradually left the runway and flew into the air.

Seeing the "Dart X" take off, both the audience at the scene and the audience watching the live broadcast cheered again.

Only the people in the command hall were a little calmer.

It had flown many times during the unmanned tests before, and a lot of "ballast" was loaded at that time. This time, the ballast was just replaced with astronauts.

The speed of the shuttle was still accelerating. The thinner the air, the faster it went, but as the air became thinner, the lift it could provide was insufficient.

The two astronauts kept staring at various data. When all the data pointed to a predetermined value, Du Kangsheng said, "Thrust six-six, full engine power!"

"Understood! Five-six engines start, full thrust!"

Li Yuling immediately took the order, turned on the last two engine switches, and Du Kangsheng also pushed the lever to the top.

At this point, all six original model "Dart" annular plug engines were at full thrust, and 93.6 tons of thrust pushed the aircraft into space.

Due to previous fuel consumption, the total weight of the hundred-ton aircraft had been reduced to ninety tons, and the thrust-to-weight ratio exceeded 1, so continuing to accelerate the flight was no problem.

At this time, the shuttle could no longer be seen with the naked eye, and only telescopes could see it, but because of this, everyone cheered even louder.

This sound seemed to break through the shackles of the atmosphere and directly enter space.