Chouguo, Vandenberg Air Force Base.

Musk sat in his independent conference room with a gloomy face that could almost squeeze out water.

He has received news that the Falcon 9 has been successfully launched and entered the network successfully, but at the same time, he has also received news that the entire Starlink system has lost control.

When Colonel Louis called him to notify him, he could hardly believe his ears.

How is that possible?

Thousands of Starlink satellites, using the most complex parallel encryption system for RSA and elliptic curves, were invaded without warning?

Not only intrusion, the other party even gained control of the system to some extent. Although due to the complexity of the control system itself, the other party cannot really fully implement the operation of the entire satellite network, even if it is just to disrupt one's own operating instructions, it is already an extremely terrible thing.

Only then did he understand what Louis said about "revenge" meant.

I originally thought that the so-called revenge was at most equal competition, such as the opponent also launched a large number of satellites of the same type to seize the space of low-Earth orbit. He was actually not afraid of such so-called revenge.

Low cost is our biggest advantage.

Grab the territory? Grab it. Anyway, my satellite is cheap and I don’t feel sorry if it is broken. What about you? Can you afford to spend it with me?

Yes, the other party really can't afford it, but the problem is that they have no intention of consuming it.

Take the initiative from the bottom of the board and turn your own satellite network into a decoration.

He set it up foreseeable that if he wants to launch a new satellite next time, the other party will inevitably adopt more radical strategies, and may even manipulate his own satellites to actively lower orbit until all crash!

If you really get to that point, what should you do?

No, you must not let this happen.

The Starlink plan must continue to be implemented, but in the same way, we must reach an agreement with the other party to prevent them from damaging it again.

The question is, how to do this?

The official strategy of the Ugly Kingdom is already very obvious. Whether it is Nasa or the official, they do not want further conflicts with China due to the Starlink issue. Therefore, if you want to continue your business territory, you can only rely on yourself.

Thinking of this, Musk picked up the cell phone on the table and directly called his private relationship with a military.

"...... Sir, I understand what you mean. But, we said from the beginning, that the Starlink project is just a pure business act, isn't it?"

"Yes, yes, I understand, I've received a lot of support from you in the early stage, and I'm grateful, but now I really can't stop this plan."

"You know, my company lives on these constantly updated concepts - I live on people's desire and belief in the future. If I give up the Starlink plan now, it will be not only Starlink, but also Spacex, and Tesla that collapses!"

"I know you don't care, but the benefits Starlink can provide you with are real, right?"

"...I'm sorry, I don't know... However, no longer surveillance is performed now, it does not mean that there is no need for surveillance in the future. We have to plan for the long term and the future."

"I understand, I'll cut with the military, and yes, from now on, Starlink will operate as a complete commercial project."

"I will get the funds, I only need your attitude..."

"I understand, I will negotiate with China."

"I can provide a lot of conditions. I have a relatively mature low-cost solution that I can exchange for. No, this will not affect our technical superiority, so that's safe."

"Okay, okay. I will give you feedback immediately after the results come out."

"thank you very much!"

After putting down the phone, Musk breathed a sigh of relief.

From this phone call, he had a deeper understanding of the official attitude.

Yes, they are not really going to give up the Starlink plan, they are just afraid of the threat from China.

Therefore, starting today, the official will no longer support the Starlink project in any direct way, nor will it provide new financial support, but this may not be a good thing for me.

When the old shareholders leave the market, the new shareholders can join smoothly, and this process of new and old replacement is often the period when the profits are the most profitable.

Wasn’t Tesla’s launch at the Shanghai factory the same routine?

Thinking of this, a mysterious smile appeared on Musk's face.

He re-dialed the assistant and then spoke:

"Help me make an appointment with our contacts in China, and I want to discuss technology transfer with them..."

.........

A few hours later, the Shenzhen-City State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission received an invitation from Spacex. The details of the invitation were transferred to Chen Hao, and Chen Hao discussed the invitation with Ye Zhou through video calls.

"...... So, this track change accident probably softened Musk. What he wants to do now is to find a buyer. Is that right?"

Hearing Ye Zhou's words, Chen Hao nodded slightly and then replied:

"Yes. According to the other party's proposal, they will provide us with a complete set of low-cost solutions to make up for the shortcomings of our current launch cost and insufficient payload in the aerospace field."

"To be honest, although we know it's a takeover, the attractiveness of this condition is really good. From a rational perspective, we should accept it."

"Although we may face some difficulties and threats in the long run, judging from the current trend, the gap between us and the ugly country has continued to narrow. Combined with the dominance of technology, it is not difficult to turn against others in the end."

"The only problem is that as long as this plan is accepted, it is to be a flirting with the tiger. We cannot completely put the Starlink project in our control. If the other party makes some small moves outside our monitoring, it will be difficult for us to discover and prevent it in advance."

Ye Zhou leaned back on the chair, thought for a while, and answered:

“I personally tend not to work with them.”

"In fact, the main technical difficulties of low-cost launch solutions are hull reuse and engine thrust enhancement, and the key difficulties of these two lies in material and engine design."

"As for other flight controls, data model systems, etc., we already have advantages. We can achieve breakthroughs as long as we continue to develop patiently for a period of time."

"They promised to provide us with low-cost solutions, and the most likely solution is the latter. The key technological breakthroughs of the former still have to rely on the derivative results of the Nantianmen project."

"Since this is the case, why should we pursue breakthroughs in a short time with quick success? This is not a matter of life and death."

Chen Hao nodded and said:

"It's true, but you also know that our aerospace engineering is also under pressure from technical bottlenecks. They need to introduce new technologies and new solutions to break the current deadlock. The technology exchange proposed by Musk is a good catfish."

"No matter how the General Technical Office opposes it, there will always be people who tend to accept this catfish. We are also under a lot of pressure."

Ye Zhou shook his head slightly and replied:

"It's true that we need catfish, but what we need is not sharks."

"If even key areas such as aerospace need foreign technology to provide impact, then our future development will be in jeopardy."

"Isn't the core contradiction now a low-cost solution? I have a solution, do you want to listen?"

"Speak and listen."

Ye Zhou coughed, pondered for a moment and said:

“Modular satellite design.”

"Modular? What does it mean?"

"It means that we first launch a comprehensive satellite platform into the air to achieve long-term battery life, and then add corresponding functional modules to this satellite according to subsequent functional needs."

"In this way, we can simplify the satellite structure and save satellite weight and thus save the launch cost."

"More importantly, if the integrated satellite platform can achieve sustainable existence, the lifespan of the satellite will be greatly improved. This may not be able to see results in the short term, but in the long run, cost savings are definitely not a small number - at least, it will definitely exceed Musk's so-called low-cost solution."

Hearing this, Chen Hao's brows frowned slightly.

"What do you mean is to make satellites into small space stations? But in this way, the requirements for orbital change engines will be very high... The subsequent fuel replenishment is also a big problem."

Ye Zhou smiled slightly and replied:

"No, we don't refuel."

"Not refueling? Then what..."

"Did you forget about working fluid-free plasma engine? I provided this result in the Nantianmen project."

"Yes, the thrust of the prototypes is very low now. It can even be said that before the controllable nuclear fusion is realized, the thrust this engine can provide is almost negligible. But that is only relative to traditional engines on the ground, and the controllable nuclear fusion itself is also in our plan."

"So, this engine was originally created for space, and now it's time to take its first step."

......

A day after receiving Musk's invitation, Huaxia participated in the talks with the other party as promised. However, at this meeting, the representatives of Huaxia mercilessly rejected the other party's proposal to conduct a technical exchange.

They did not explain the reason, but just told Musk that the technical solutions he provided did not conform to the development direction of the Chinese technology route.

But what direction are you?

Musk couldn't figure it out.

However, two hours after the talks, he got his own answer from the news.

The working fluid-free ion engine project was officially announced as a subsidiary sub-project of the Nantianmen project, and the first phase of the results were released.

The thrust reached an astonishing 50mn.

Not high, but ridiculously low.

But such an outrageously low thrust has caused huge waves in the aerospace field.

If Spacex is trying to start the era of human beings entering space on a large scale, then what this ion engine wants to do is a bigger and more grand thing.

What it wants to conquer is not just the "false" space that is only hundreds of kilometers away from the earth, but thousands of kilometers.

But the real sea of ​​stars outside the solar system and outside the Milky Way.
Chapter completed!