Chapter 568: Qin Tao is the best at commercial operation

Zhao Ling looked at her husband with a smile. She knew that as long as Qin Tao came here, the meeting would become completely different from before.

 In the past, the aerospace system held a meeting every year. It was just a speech by the leader, describing the work achievements of the aerospace system for the year, and then outstanding representatives from each institute spoke. Finally, they gave some encouragement, and the meeting was considered over.

What about this time? Qin Tao came over and immediately brought up the concept of competition and the idea of ​​splitting the system into two parts, sending people to the blue sky and sending people to the west. The atmosphere of the meeting suddenly changed.

Originally, competition and splitting would definitely make many people unwilling and worried, but now, everyone can only laugh, especially Qin Tao's impromptu song, which is so interesting.

“One is working on satellites, and the other is working on sanitation... One is happy because they are getting paid, and the other is happy because they are going to be laid off.”

Qin Tao finally finished the limerick. The scene was silent for a second or two, and then burst into warm applause.

 “It’s funny.” Qin Tao said with a smile.

On the rostrum, Mr. Wu was very emotional: "Mr. Qin introduced it in detail. Our aerospace system does need to compete. This classification method is the best. One of our important tasks next year is to classify according to this method." , dismantle our aerospace system and start competition."

"That's right, those who send people to the blue sky should be separated from those who send people to the west." Mr. Wang also said: "From now on, we will concentrate on manned spaceflight and send people to the blue sky, and you will concentrate on missiles. Send the enemy to the west!"

“Mr. Qin, your starship company won’t compete with our two companies at the same time, right?” Mr. Wu continued.

“Of course it’s impossible. We have no competition with our space system. Our goal is to send people to Mars.”

 You are orbiting near the earth, and we are orbiting directly in the solar system. These are two different goals.

"Yes, our mission is different from that of the Starship Company." Mr. Wang said: "Mr. Qin, are you going to engage in a manned spacecraft project in the future?"

"Yes, the thrust of our rocket is greater, so our manned spacecraft will also be larger." Qin Tao introduced: "Our spacecraft will have only two cabin sections, the return capsule and the propulsion capsule. The cabin will accommodate six or seven astronauts living and working at the same time."

The Shenzhou spacecraft currently being developed by the manned space project uses the design idea of ​​Lao Maozi's Soyuz spacecraft. It is divided into three sections. The rear is the propulsion module, the middle is the return module, and the front is the orbital module. This three-section The biggest advantage of the cabin is that it greatly reduces the size of the return capsule, which can reduce the technical difficulty during return.

However, this design resulted in too much redundancy, resulting in the return capsule being able to accommodate only three astronauts, which was unqualified if deep space exploration missions were to be carried out.

 So, the new generation of manned spacecraft all have a two-stage structure.

“Hearing Mr. Qin’s words, I feel like we can lose our jobs and realize manned spaceflight by directly using Mingzhou Group’s plan.” Mr. Wang said with a smile.

 This is certainly a form of humility.

"Of course not." Qin Tao said: "Our technology is more difficult, so we may not be able to have manned spaceflight capabilities in twenty years. However, our national team's project is taking a pragmatic and steady path. In a few years Then we might be able to send astronauts into space."

 Before embarking on the manned space project, several years of project demonstrations were carried out, and a sound plan was finally chosen.

 Qin Tao also has a clear understanding of this.

“Furthermore, our Starship Company only produces rockets, and the astronauts we need need to be borrowed from our space agency.”

Speaking of astronauts, Qin Tao is also very emotional. In fact, according to Lao Maozi's standards, every astronaut trained in the country is qualified and fully qualified for space missions, but there is no way. The country's aerospace engineering needs There are few people. Therefore, some of the astronauts who accompanied us were obviously capable enough, but they never made it to space.

If the Starship Company can succeed, it can borrow astronauts from the national aerospace project to give more astronauts the opportunity to go to space.

"Mr. Qin, your rocket has greater thrust. According to our three-step strategy for manned spaceflight, we will definitely build a space station in the future. At that time, we will also need your rocket to help launch the module." Mr. Wang continued. .

"That's for sure. Facts have proven that relying on others is unreliable." Qin Tao said: "No country can help us develop aerospace technology. We can only rely on ourselves."

In 1993, the atmosphere in the world was harmonious. A total of 16 countries, including the United States, Russia, 11 European Space Agency member states, Japan, Canada and Brazil, united and decided to build a dedicated international space station.

At that time, China was also very happy and actively wanted to participate in the construction of this project, but it was ruthlessly rejected!

No country is willing to see China become powerful or lead China in aerospace. Therefore, the astronauts in the East can only suppress their anger and work hard to practice their internal skills. We can do it ourselves!

 In later generations, the International Space Station faced the risk of decommissioning due to various problems, and countries did not have the funds and strength to build a new International Space Station. However, Dongfang continued to develop step by step and built its own space station.

Westerners were angry and protested loudly: You actually use Chinese on the space station. This is not in line with international practice!

 We use our own space station ourselves, so why should we comply with the international practices you say? Russian is still used on the Mir space station, why don't you protest?

Of course, some people have recognized the reality and started to study Chinese hard, hoping to go to the space station in the East.

At this time, what Qin Tao said immediately aroused strong emotions in everyone.

"Yes, Mr. Qin is right. You cannot rely on others. Our aerospace project can only firmly follow its own path." Mr. Wang was deeply touched by this, because when he was working on the International Space Station, he had He went to negotiate together, but was squeezed out. Thinking of his experience during this period, Mr. Wang clenched his fists.

“It’s not just the manned space project, but also the navigation system.” Qin Tao said: “At present, our Beidou navigation system should be deployed as soon as possible. Our navy is still waiting!”

 Qin Tao has always been a shipbuilder, and his position is still in the navy.

 The navy needs navigation systems, and the need is most urgent.

Navy warships cannot just wander on their own coastline, they also need to go out for visits and sail on the ocean, which requires navigation and positioning. Although there are thousands of years of navigation experience and devices such as sextants, however, A modern navigation system is also necessary, and the navy needs professional navigation methods.

  Warships need to install their own Beidou navigation terminals to prevent the Americans from interfering with the GPS signal at critical moments. The navy's long-range aircraft, such as the Flying Leopard fighter-bombers, also need to be equipped with satellite navigation terminals.

  Not to mention advanced precision-guided weapons, advanced satellite navigation systems are also needed.

Countless needs are calling!

After hearing Qin Tao's request, Mr. Sun, who is in charge of the Beidou navigation system, nodded: "Yes, we also know that the army is waiting, so we are also seizing the time to do research. Two thousand years ago, we must send the Beidou navigation satellite. Sky."

 At that time, when the Beidou navigation system was just launched, Qin Tao excitedly ran to see the R&D team and found that they were actually doing R&D in the warehouse because the boiler in the office building was broken and there was no money to repair it.

At that time, Qin Tao waved his hand and helped pay for the repair of the boiler, and also provided a batch of computers to support the R&D team.

Therefore, Mr. Sun and Mr. Sun are old acquaintances, and now, Mr. Sun feels a little embarrassed after listening to Qin Tao's urging, just like a student who scored 98 points is embarrassed to meet his parents because he did not test 100 points. .

"However, Mr. Qin, we still have many problems." Mr. Sun looked at Qin Tao and continued: "For example, we are not good at the commercial operation of our Beidou navigation system. We can provide it to the military. Provided, but if it is provided to the private sector, it may be difficult to compete with GPS.”

 If it cannot be run commercially, it will not be able to make money. Their Beidou navigation system is a high-investment project, which makes them a little embarrassed.

“Commercial operation, absolutely no fees.” Qin Tao said.

In 1994, the American GPS system had begun to be made available to the world for free. It sounded like the Americans were very generous, but in fact it was to make users from various countries dependent on GPS and to facilitate their control. If a country's military is accustomed to using GPS, but on the battlefield, the Americans directly turn off the civilian signal of GPS, then the country's military will be completely blind.

By 2003, the ten-year free period promised by the Americans had arrived. It was originally planned to charge a fee, but Galileo in Europe had already started to operate, DaMao's system had also continued to operate, and there was Beidou in the East. In order to compete with these systems , American talent decided to continue free.

If Beidou charges fees, it will definitely be scolded.

 But if there is no charge, how can you make money?

"Mr. Sun, I have proposed before that when the Beidou system comes out, our Mingzhou Group hopes to be authorized to obtain the chip production task of ground receivers. At present, we are actively working hard to improve the chip production process. By the millennium, it is likely that we will already have a 0.18 micron production process, or even lower, and by then, we can use this process to produce specialized receiver chips."

  0.18 micron? Everyone looked at Qin Tao in surprise. Is your Mingzhou Group too powerful?

“Of course, we entrust SMIC to produce receiver chips,” said Mr. Sun.

“In this case, the chips we produce can be sold at a higher price, and the higher price will be used as the main income for our Beidou Satellite System.”

Can you still play like this?

 Mr. Sun looked at Qin Tao with some surprise, his lips moved, and he wanted to ask a question, but he felt a little embarrassed. Since Mr. Qin said it was okay, then it must be okay, right?

"We can get a commission of 50 yuan for each chip. In this way, even if there are only 10 million commercial users, we can collect 500 million chip patent fees." Knowing what Mr. Sun was struggling with, Qin Tao then I made a simple analysis for Mr. Sun.

 Fifty yuan in patent fees for a chip is not much. You know, buying a GPS navigation receiver in this era costs thousands of yuan! Beidou terminals are cheaper, even if they only cost 2,000 yuan, and allocating 50 yuan of them to the Beidou project is definitely not showing off.

It was not until later generations that with the continuous advancement of microelectronics technology, the cost of navigation modules for mobile phones such as GPS and Beidou was reduced to tens of dollars. (There is also a saying that it is a few yuan, I don’t know much about it.)

 The price of launching a navigation satellite is about 500 million. In other words, the patent fees collected from the chip alone are enough for one satellite!

Beidou first-generation navigation system uses the principle of dual-star positioning, and only two satellites are enough.

 Now, just by tinkering with the chip, half of the cost can be recovered. How can Mr. Sun not be tempted?

Qin Tao continued: "Next, we can also set up a special Beidou Navigation company, register the Beidou Navigation trademark, and develop a special Beidou Navigation digital map. It will be calculated based on the user updating the navigation map every three months, and a one-time fee will be charged." One hundred, we can give you a commission of ten yuan, so it will be four hundred million a year."

 The next step is to calculate it on an annual basis, you can get hundreds of millions every year!

Mr. Sun opened his eyes wide: "Mr. Qin, your plan is great! We will entrust this Beidou Navigation Company to your Mingzhou Group with full authority!"

If you are a professional user, you do not need a digital map. Their satellite navigation terminal only displays the coordinates of longitude and latitude, and then the user can know his exact location by comparing it with the map.

 However, ordinary business users cannot.

 Commercial users are not that professional and will not look at the latitude and longitude coordinates, but only pictures. The navigation system is hardware and must be matched with software such as digital maps.

 In later generations, free navigation maps such as Amap and Baidu became so popular that people have forgotten that the former leader of car navigation was Kaili De. The latter has dominated car navigation terminals for many years, and every upgrade costs dozens or even hundreds. Since urban roads are constantly changing, upgrades are required every few months.

 Kailead almost made money by lying down, so they didn’t care about user experience and the like, and were ultimately defeated by the free navigation system.

Now, Qin Tao has put forward a relevant plan. Instead of letting others make money, it is better to make money yourself. At least if you make money, part of it will be returned to the Beidou project, so that the Beidou system can be profitable, and they With money, we can continue to develop the next generation of navigation systems and achieve circular and progressive development.

"Inviting Mr. Qin here is indeed beneficial." Mr. Wang said with a smile: "Mr. Qin, can our manned space project also achieve profitability?"

 In fact, it is difficult to compete in the aerospace field, because aerospace inherently involves high investment and low returns. Domestic aerospace projects go global, just to undertake some international satellite launch missions. Although they can make money, they are definitely not as good as the investment.

"Of course." Qin Tao said: "You only put two astronauts up each time and sell the third seat. This way you are guaranteed to make money. There are still many billionaires in the world who are looking forward to flying into the sky."

Everyone was a little dumbfounded. Isn't Mr. Qin too fanciful? Manned spaceflight is such a serious project, but it actually wants to be turned into space tourism?

Qin Tao smiled. He said this was indeed a joke. At the beginning, the manned space project was very difficult and dangerous. It was probably difficult to sell the tickets. After all, it was different from the mature Soyuz spacecraft.

"When our spacecraft matures, half of the seats on our starship can be sold." Qin Tao said: "In this way, we can make a lot of money every time we launch, plus our rocket is reusable. Yes, Starship Company will definitely be able to achieve profitability for our group."

"reusable?"

“Yes, the development direction of rockets and spacecraft must be reusable, so as to save a lot of money.” Qin Tao said: “If we want to land on Mars, we must develop reusable aerospace equipment.”

“What’s the difference between that and the space shuttle?” someone present asked.

 In the general impression, rockets are disposable and space shuttles can be reused. Now, Qin Tao wants to say that both rockets and spaceships can be reused, isn’t that a space shuttle? You know, the space shuttle is far from being reusable.

"Of course there is a difference. The space shuttle needs a runway to land, and the spacecraft lands by parachute. If it is flying to other planets, our rocket can land directly on it vertically and then take off again."

 The rocket landed vertically!

 Everyone felt that Qin Tao was talking about the world of science fiction.

“Speaking of reuse, Lao Maozi’s Buran is more suitable than the American space shuttle.” Mr. Wang said: “Unfortunately, when the Red Empire collapsed, Lao Maozi’s space shuttle was completely abandoned.”

 The Americans first proposed the concept of the space shuttle and built five of them. Of course, Lao Maozi was not far behind and also built a similar space shuttle.

  Comparing the two, the biggest difference is the engine.

The main engine of the United States is on the space shuttle, and the big drum hanging outside is the fuel tank. The advantage of this is that the engine can be reused and reduces costs. Lao Maozi's Buran space shuttle is hung on the Energy rocket. The space shuttle There are only small attitude adjustment engines.

Later commentators agreed that Lao Maozi's design was better and would greatly reduce the accident rate. The frequent accidents of the American space shuttle, which even led to its eventual retirement, fully demonstrated the unreliability of this design.

“Yes, the space shuttle Buran is really good. It is a masterpiece of Lao Maozi’s space era. Unfortunately, if the Red Empire had not collapsed, this kind of space shuttle would definitely become Lao Maozi’s main means of entering space.”

 Who said low-Earth orbit carrying capacity of hundreds of tons is useless? The take-off weight of the Buran is 105 tons, and its return weight is as high as 82 tons! This means that the Buran space shuttle can also launch heavy-duty satellites, capture satellites of other countries in orbit, and then take them back for your own use!

　　In the race to land on the moon, Lao Maozi had no choice but to withdraw with regret because he did not have a suitable rocket. However, in the 1980s, with the successful development of the Energy rocket, Lao Maozi already had this capability.

Even in theory, Energia can send 270 tons of payload to low orbit, 32 tons of payload to the moon, and 27 tons of payload to Mars.

Unfortunately, with the collapse of the Red Empire, the world no longer needs such a powerful launch vehicle. The entire Energy rocket ended in vain. A booster of the Energy rocket can become the Zenith star rocket, which is enough This shows the powerful capability of this energy rocket.

At this time, after hearing about the Buran and Energy, Qin Tao was also a little emotional. In front of his eyes, the collapsed factory building of the Baikonur launch site in later generations seemed to appear. The Buran space shuttle that once flew into the sky was just because of the factory building. It collapsed and was completely destroyed, and an era was completely ended.

“During the era of the Red Empire, a total of two Snowstorms were built.” Speaking of these, Mr. Wang kept talking and seemed to have forgotten the main topic of this meeting.

"The one numbered 1.01, named Buran, is Lao Maozi's only space shuttle that has carried out space flight in autopilot mode. The second one's project number is 1.02, named Little Bird, and was originally planned to be used for The second space flight in autopilot mode was carried out and docked with the Mir space station. Unfortunately, it never experienced a single flight, and there were several more after that, which were directly dismantled."

“It would be great if we could get one back.” Mr. Wang said with emotion.

Qin Tao nodded: "Yes, it would be really good if you get it back and put it in a museum. Let's wait until we have the opportunity in the future."

History has proven that the space shuttle is worthless. Although Lao Maozi's space shuttle was more perfect in design, it was still eliminated. The new generation of manned spaceflight uses spaceships. Therefore, Qin Tao did not like Lao Maozi at all. space shuttle.

However, it would be nice to get it back and use it as an exhibit. If you want to make a complete imitation, there is no need.

With a weight of more than one hundred tons, not even Starship Company’s rockets can launch it into the sky.

"Mr. Qin, we've been talking for a long time, why don't you come over and sit down!" Mr. Wu continued to say hello: "Our meeting has to officially start."

“Forget it, Xiaoling and I will sit together.” Qin Tao said, sitting next to Zhao Ling generously.

 Zhao Ling's face was a little flushed, while Qin Tao was very calm.

 The meeting continues.

"This year, the Hongqi-16 missile developed by our affiliated Huating Aerospace Research Institute successfully underwent plateau testing, which means that our plateau defenders have another air defense weapon. The developers of this missile have made great contributions. The next award is awarded to the Hongqi-16 R&D team, Comrade Zhao Ling, please come up and receive the award!"

 Qin Tao immediately applauded.

PS: I did two updates yesterday, my heart started to feel uncomfortable again, and I didn’t sleep well all night. Sorry, let’s do one update. Thanks to Jialou Luo, The Obscure Dragon, The Great Emperor of Fantasy, Crucian Carp Against the River, Book Friends 160309185359540, l599xl, Book Friends 20181220090631196 and other friends for their rewards. Thank you for your subscription and voting support!

　　

 (End of this chapter)