Chapter 219 Space Cooperation

Beijing, headquarters of the Aerospace Group.

Lin Mo stood in front of the building, looking up at the towering Long March rocket model—the silver-white rocket body pointed straight at the firmament, glowing with a metallic luster in the sunlight. This building contained the dreams of China's aerospace industry over the past sixty years.

"Academician Lin," a staff member beside him whispered, "General Manager Liu is waiting for you in the conference room."

Lin Mo nodded and followed him into the building.

There were already seven or eight people sitting in the conference room.

General Manager Liu sat at the head of the table, flanked by several gray-haired senior experts and a few others in military uniforms—representatives from the General Armaments Department. Seeing Lin Mo enter, General Manager Liu stood up and reached out his hand:

"Academician Lin, welcome, welcome."

Lin Mo shook his hand: "General Manager Liu, sorry to intrude."

"What do you mean by intrude," General Manager Liu laughed, "The whole Aerospace Group has been discussing the space elevator. Inviting you here today is because we want to hear your specific ideas."

Lin Mo nodded, walked to the front, and turned on the projector.

On the screen appeared that familiar diagram—a slender cable stretching from the Earth into space, with a huge ring-shaped structure at the top.

"Everyone," Lin Mo began, "The core of the sky ladder project is to build a thousand-ton space station in synchronous orbit to serve as the counterweight and hub for the space elevator. This space station will require approximately 120 launches to complete."

Low murmurs arose in the audience.

An elderly expert wearing glasses raised his hand: "Academician Lin, I am Old Li from the General Design Department. I would like to ask, based on what payload capacity are these 120 launches calculated?"

Lin Mo pulled up a table: "Calculated at 10 tons per launch. Currently, the Long March 5's geosynchronous orbit payload capacity is about 8-9 tons. So we need to increase it slightly, or adopt a multi-docking method."

Old Li nodded and asked again: "What about the launch cycle?"

Lin Mo said: "Ideally, it will be completed within five years. That is to say, an average of 24 launches per year."

The conference room was quiet for a few seconds.

General Manager Liu spoke slowly: "Academician Lin, to be honest, our current annual launch capacity is at most around 30 times. And more than half of that is taken up by commercial launches and national missions. If we have to set aside a capacity of 24 launches/year solely for the sky ladder project—"

He shook his head: "It's very difficult."

Lin Mo looked at him without speaking.

A middle-aged man in a military uniform spoke: "I am from the General Armaments Department. Academician Lin, I want to ask a more fundamental question—why must we build such a large space station in synchronous orbit? Can we take it step by step, build a smaller one first, and expand it slowly?"

Lin Mo pulled up another diagram:

"We have thought about this question too. But the space elevator cable needs a fixed anchor point at the top. If the anchor point is too small or too light, the dynamic loads generated by the elevator cabin's operation will cause the entire system to become unstable. One thousand tons is the minimum safety requirement."

The soldier frowned and said nothing.

The discussion lasted for an hour.

Experts from the aerospace department raised various issues—insufficient launch capacity, limited launch windows, immature on-orbit assembly technology, and excessively high costs. Every problem was very realistic, and every problem was difficult to solve.

Lin Mo responded to them one by one, but for some questions, he did not have an answer for the time being.

The atmosphere in the conference room gradually became heavy.

General Manager Liu checked his watch and signaled for a ten-minute break.

Lin Mo stood by the window, looking at the city outside.

Beijing's sky was gray, and the sun could not be seen. In the distance, a few pigeons were flying, circling, again and again.

"Academician Lin."

He turned around; it was Old Li from before.

Old Li walked over, stood beside him, and also looked out the window:

"To tell you the truth, your plan has been discussed many times internally."

Lin Mo looked at him.

Old Li continued: "Technically, it's not impossible. But it's too advanced. So advanced that our existing capabilities cannot keep up."

Lin Mo nodded: "I understand."

Old Li turned his head to look at him:

"But you came today, which means you have ideas. Tell me, how do you think we can break this deadlock?"

Lin Mo was silent for a few seconds, then said:

"General Manager Li, what do you think we are currently lacking the most?"

Old Li thought for a moment: "Launch capacity. The capacity to send big things up."

Lin Mo nodded: "Right. So the core problem is how to increase launch capacity."

He paused and continued:

"Chemical rockets have already developed to their limits. The Long March 5 is already the largest in the country; if we make it any bigger, the cost will increase exponentially. Therefore, we need to take a different path."

Old Li's eyes lit up: "What path?"

Lin Mo said: "Plasma Propulsion."

The break ended, and the meeting continued.

Lin Mo stood in front of the stage and opened a new diagram—it was a schematic of an engine, simpler in structure than a chemical rocket, but with a huge energy module added.

"Everyone," Lin Mo said, "General Manager Li just asked how to break the deadlock. My suggestion is—use Nuclear Fusion energy to develop a plasma thruster."

The audience was quiet for a second, then erupted into discussion.

"Plasma Propulsion?" someone questioned, "That thing has too little thrust and can only be used for deep space exploration. How could it possibly be used for launch?"

Lin Mo nodded: "This comrade is right. Current plasma thrusters have a thrust of only a few Newtons and indeed cannot be used for launch. But—"

He brought up a comparison table:

"That was the limitation of the past. Now, we have Nuclear Fusion."

He pointed to the energy module on the diagram:

"The principle of Plasma Propulsion is to use electrical energy to accelerate propellant to generate thrust. The magnitude of thrust depends on two factors—electrical power and propellant flow rate. Previous plasma thrusters used solar energy for electricity, had limited power, and therefore had low thrust. But if we use Nuclear Fusion for power generation, the power can be increased by several orders of magnitude."

Someone in the audience raised their hand: "How much can it be increased?"

Lin Mo brought up a set of data:

"Theoretical calculations show that if a 10-megawatt Nuclear Fusion power source is used, the thrust of a plasma thruster can reach over 1 ton. If 100 megawatts are used, the thrust can reach over 10 tons."

The conference room went quiet.

Old Li's eyes widened: "10 tons of thrust? Wouldn't that be comparable to chemical rockets?"

Lin Mo nodded: "Yes. And the specific impulse is more than ten times that of chemical rockets. That is to say, with the same fuel, it can fly further and carry heavier payloads."

General Manager Liu spoke slowly: "Academician Lin, this idea of yours is too bold."

Lin Mo looked at him: "General Manager Liu, when we were working on the Two Bombs, One Satellite project, some people also said it was bold."

General Manager Liu was stunned for a moment, then laughed.

The subsequent discussion turned to technical details.

How large of a fusion reactor would a plasma thruster need? To what extent can current miniaturization technology go? How long would the development cycle take? How much would it cost?

Lin Mo answered one by one; some had data, while others could only be estimated.

Three hours later, the meeting ended.

General Manager Liu walked Lin Mo downstairs, saying as they walked:

"Academician Lin, today's meeting went well."

Lin Mo looked at him.

General Manager Liu continued: "You opened a window for us. We had thought about the path of Plasma Propulsion before, but felt it was too far off. Now you tell us that we can use Nuclear Fusion to bring it closer."

He stopped and looked at Lin Mo:

"Let's do this. Our Aerospace Group will set up a special task force specifically to study Plasma Propulsion. If you have any progress on your end, share it with us at any time. If we have any breakthroughs on our end, we will also let you know immediately."

Lin Mo reached out his hand: "Thank you, General Manager Liu."

General Manager Liu shook his hand: "Don't thank me. It's all for the same goal."

Walking out of the building, it was already evening.

Lin Mo stood at the entrance, looking at the Long March rocket model. The setting sun dyed it gold, like an arrow about to be shot into the sky.

His phone rang; it was a message from Li Xiao:

"Senior brother, how did the talks go?"

Lin Mo replied: "There is progress. The Aerospace Group agreed to cooperate and set up a special project to study Plasma Propulsion."

Li Xiao replied in seconds: "That's great!!!"

Followed by a long string of exclamation marks.

Lin Mo laughed.

He sent another message to Chen Xueming: "Plasma Propulsion might be starting up."

Chen Xueming replied: "Old Lin, are you trying to do interstellar travel?"

Lin Mo looked at the message, was silent for a few seconds, then replied:

"Perhaps."

Late at night, Lin Mo returned to the hotel.

He stood by the window, looking at the night view of Beijing.

Plasma Propulsion.

Nuclear Fusion Miniaturization.

space elevator.

These words were just concepts in science fiction novels four years ago. Now, they are step-by-step becoming reality.

He thought of that signal, thought of HD 107146, 12 light-years away.

Plasma Propulsion, the specific impulse is ten times that of chemical rockets. If we use it, how long would it take to go 12 light-years away?

He calculated in his mind—flying at 10% the speed of light, it would take 120 years.

One hundred and twenty years.

He wouldn't live to see that day.

But perhaps his grandson could.

Perhaps humanity could.

He took a deep breath, turned around, and opened his computer.

A new day, and there were still many things to do.