814: Chapter 814 Breaking Out of Near-Earth Orbit

In the ground control hall, hundreds of eyes were fixed on the three partitioned holographic screens. In the center, the live aerial footage showed deep space ii moving with elegance, while thousands of monitoring curves on the left and right sides remained straight and smooth, without a single trace of abnormal fluctuation.

Chief Designer Shen Kuo, Chief Designer Lin Shen, and Chief Designer Su Zhe, the three chief designers, quietly relaxed their tense shoulders and backs. Their tightly gripped logbooks slowly loosened, and the fatigue that had built up in their eyes over the past few months transformed entirely into a burning sense of relief.

Chief Designer Shen Kuo sighed softly, "Hundreds of days and nights of extreme testing have finally not been in vain."

Chief Designer Lin Shen echoed, "The three core challenges—Nuclear Fusion Propulsion, closed-loop ecology, and integrated hull—have all been successfully implemented. After today, traditional chemical rockets will completely exit the mainstream stage."

Chu Qianlan stood quietly in the center of the large screens, his gaze calmly fixed on the steadily flying deep space ii. Light blue holographic data streams flowed slowly beside him. Nuwa synchronized the monitoring information from the global airspace radar in real-time; there were no foreign aircraft near the entire coastal area, and the airspace was safe and controllable throughout the process.

A moment later, the voice of Chen Zhongwei came into the monitoring hall, "Low-altitude testing is complete. deep space ii is about to increase altitude and break out of Blue Star."

As Chen Zhongwei's voice faded from the encrypted communication channel, a low commotion instantly stirred in the control hall. The previously suppressed, breathless atmosphere was dispersed by an irrepressible excitement.

The backs of hundreds of researchers and control personnel straightened subconsciously, their eyes locked onto the silver-white deep space ii on the central holographic screen.

Chief Designer Shen Kuo gently placed the thick test logbook in his hand onto the console table. His fingertips trembled slightly, and his tone could not hide his excitement, "Zero faults in the full set of low-altitude cruise conditions. The fusion reactor's steady-state output is fully up to standard. The ascent program will not have any shortcomings!"

Chief Designer Lin Shen and Chief Designer Su Zhe nodded in unison. The three of them stood side by side, looking at the large screen, their eyes filled with the relief that comes after years of overcoming hardships.

"Permission to increase altitude. Ascend to the predetermined low-Earth deployment airspace according to the preset orbit. Monitor the fusion reactor load throughout the process; if the power fluctuation exceeds the threshold, immediately decelerate to buffer." Chu Qianlan's steady command reached the bridge of deep space ii via the encrypted link.

"Received. Initiating high-altitude ascent program!" Chen Zhongwei replied. The navigation officer slid his fingers, changing the parameters.

On the bridge's circular console, large areas of light blue command light patterns flowed. The humming sound of the Nuclear Fusion Power Compartment at the tail rose steadily, the soft light blue ion flame increased slightly, and the entire twenty-eight-meter-long streamlined hull tilted slightly upward, maintaining an extremely stable posture as it climbed steadily toward the ten-thousand-meter altitude.

The billions of viewers in the ground live broadcast room instantly boiled over. Dense bullet comments covered the entire screen, scrolling so fast that the text was unreadable:

"It's about to break through the atmosphere! The Dragon Kingdom's self-developed Nuclear Fusion spacecraft is truly stepping into space!"

"Chemical rockets still need to jettison boosters in stages, but our spacecraft performs seamless ascent and descent. The generational gap is simply worlds apart!"

"So what if Europe and America block the orbit and make things difficult? We'll just go up and build our own network!"

In Magic City, on every street, square, and office building—anywhere the sky could be seen—pedestrians stopped and looked up.

The silver-white hull, wrapped in a hazy blue light, cut across the sky, gradually rising from above the city. It flew higher and higher, slowly turning into a slender silver streak, its trajectory clearly discernible.

Countless mobile phones and cameras were aimed at the sky, and the sound of shutters clicked one after another. The rhythm of the entire city's traffic slowed down; no one wanted to miss this historic scene.

Inside the bridge of deep space ii, the scene outside the portholes changed rapidly.

The buildings of Magic City and the nearby sea surface below were constantly shrinking. The clear blue sky slowly faded from its azure tone, transitioning toward the ink-black deep space, with thin clouds left behind.

The navigator continuously refreshed the orbital coordinates, calculated the ascent angle in real-time, and the intelligent system fine-tuned the ion propulsion output, preventing any overload impact throughout the process.

"Fusion reactor output increased to 27%. All hull stress values are within the design limits. There is no fluctuation in the ecological circulation chamber's air pressure or oxygen content!" The engine crew member reported loudly. Various monitoring data were neatly listed on the circular light screen, the curves straight without a single ripple.

Chen Zhongwei looked through the four-layered nano-composite porthole toward the distant, pitch-black universe, a burning sense of shock surging in his heart. The real scene of the sea of stars, which he had only ever seen in the deep space one simulation training, was now truly unfolding before his eyes.

deep space ii continued to rise steadily. The sky outside the portholes faded layer by layer from clear light blue to dark cyan, finally falling completely into the boundless ink-black deep space. Tiny stars spread out in the field of vision without any obstruction, and the Earth's curved outline, wrapped in a thin layer of light blue atmosphere, hung quietly below.

On the bridge's circular console, massive amounts of monitoring curves flowed steadily. The fusion reactor maintained a stable 27% output power. Thousands of parameters for the entire ship—including stress, radiation, and life support—were all locked within the optimal range, without a single abnormal deviation.

The chief engineer stared at the power monitoring light screen, his clear voice coming through the bridge's internal communication: "Captain, the ascent conditions are fully up to standard. The hull's composite skin anti-aerodynamic scorching index has been exceeded, with no deformation or damage!"

Chen Zhongwei nodded slightly, his gaze looking through the four-layered transparent composite porthole toward the vast sea of stars, the excitement that had been building up for months slowly surging. "Maintain current ascent rate. There are four minutes of flight time left until the low-Earth satellite deployment orbit. Prepare the payload bay for unlocking."

The navigator simultaneously called up the three-dimensional star map of the preset orbit. Dense orbital coordinates and satellite deployment points were clearly marked on the holographic star map. The release sequence for the ten navigation and communication satellites had already been pre-loaded into the intelligent system, awaiting execution with a single click upon reaching the airspace.

In the ground control hall, the three giant holographic screens switched images simultaneously. The central screen clearly captured deep space ii turning into a silver streak glowing with light blue, gradually breaking away from the atmosphere; the left side broadcast the real-time operations of the entire bridge crew, and the right side was filled with global power and ecological data streams.

The entire hall was filled with suppressed excitement. Hundreds of researchers and control personnel held their breath, their eyes glued to that epoch-making fusion spacecraft in the sky.

Chief Designer Shen Kuo, Chief Designer Lin Shen, and Chief Designer Su Zhe stood side by side, their shoulders and backs, tense for months, finally relaxing completely, their eyes welling up with warm redness.

Chief Designer Shen Kuo sighed with emotion, "From blueprints on paper to physical liftoff, how many difficulties were overcome through all-nighters—today, they have finally all been crossed."

Chief Designer Lin Shen nodded gently, "Nuclear Fusion miniaturization, closed-loop ecology, and reusable aerospace carrier—the three world-class problems have been implemented simultaneously. From now on, the rules of aerospace will no longer be dictated by others."

Ink-black deep space covered the entire porthole, and the pale blue arc of the Earth's atmosphere hung quietly below. The hull of deep space ii hovered stably in the predetermined low-Earth orbit.

Chen Zhongwei lightly touched the circular holographic main control with his fingertip, calling up the preset program for unlocking the payload bay. His clear command echoed on the bridge, "All stations, confirm the satellite deployment pre-parameters. Payload bay pressure balance initiated. Prepare for separation and unlocking."