399: The 3rd hour globally

Another year passed in the blink of an eye, and it was now January 2024. In Hainan, the early morning sea breeze carried a salty, damp chill. The runway next to the Wenchang Space Launch Site stretched through the morning mist like a silver-gray ribbon laid between coconut groves and the sea. At the end of the runway, a silver-white aircraft sat quietly. Its fuselage was slender and sharp, with delta wings swept back and its nose slightly raised like a sword about to be unsheathed. On both sides of the nose, two Chinese characters were particularly striking in the morning light—'Kuafu'.

This was a craft unlike any in the history of human aviation. It didn't resemble a plane because it could fly into space. It didn't resemble a rocket because it could land horizontally. It was a combination of both, a miracle of combined-cycle propulsion, and the ultimate answer to single-stage-to-orbit flight.

Chu Tianming stood on the viewing platform, with the core team of Xingchen Aerospace behind him. He wore a deep blue jumpsuit with the silver Xingchen logo embroidered on the chest, his hair slightly tousled by the sea breeze. The sixty-two-year-old aerospace veteran had a rare light in his eyes.

“Today marks the first public flight of the ‘Kuafu’ Spaceplane.”

The large screen behind him lit up with parameters:

“Kuafu” Spaceplane

Takeoff/Landing: Horizontal (No launch tower required)

Orbital Method: Single-Stage-to-Orbit (From runway to space)

Propulsion System: Combined-Cycle (Turbofan + Ramjet + Rocket)

Payload/Capacity: 20 passengers or 10 tons of cargo

Maximum Speed: Mach 25

Range: Any point on the globe reachable within 1 hour

Reusability: 100 flights

A thousand journalists, aviation industry representatives, and aerospace experts below held their breath. Representatives from Boeing and Airbus sat in the front row, their faces grim. They knew that from today onward, the history of the aviation industry would be rewritten.

At nine in the morning, the “Kuafu” began taxiing onto the runway. The roar of the turbofan engines grew from a low hum to a crescendo, like a waking behemoth growling. Taxiing, accelerating, nose up—the silver-white wings sliced through the air as the plane took flight, tracing a graceful arc in the morning light.

At an altitude of ten kilometers, the turbofans shut down and the ramjets ignited. At twenty kilometers, the ramjets shut down and the rocket engines fired. A white contrail stretched from Hainan Island toward the northeast, crossing the South China Sea, passing over the Pacific Ocean, and piercing straight into the firmament.

Chu Tianming's voice was broadcast globally, as calm as if he were giving a weather report: “The ‘Kuafu’ Spaceplane has successfully entered orbit.”

At ten-thirty, the “Kuafu” glided silently through space. Starting from Wenchang, it passed over the Sea of Japan, flew over the Aleutian Islands, crossed the west coast of Canada, and spanned the entire American continent. It turned over the Atlantic, skimmed the west coast of Europe, crossed the Mediterranean, flew over the Middle East, and returned to Asia. One and a half hours later, it reappeared in the skies over Wenchang.

Decelerating, descending, and aligning with the runway. The landing gear deployed, tires touched the ground with a puff of blue smoke. A successful landing.

Chu Tianming’s voice trembled slightly, like a tightened harp string: “One and a half hours to circle the Earth. From today on, the Earth is no longer a planet; it is a village.”

At eleven in the morning, during the global live press conference, Chu Tianming stood on stage. Behind him was the “Kuafu” route map—three red lines stretching from China to the world: one across the Pacific to Los Angeles, one across Eurasia to London, and one heading south across the equator to Sydney.

“The ‘Kuafu’ Spaceplane, from Beijing to New York—one hour.”

The big screen lit up with commercial routes:

Kuafu Commercial Routes (Launching in 2024)

Beijing-Los Angeles: 1 hour 10 minutes

Shanghai-London: 1 hour

Shenzhen-Sydney: 1 hour

Ticket Price: $200,000 (approximately 1.4 million rmb)

A journalist in the audience raised a hand, their voice somewhat sharp: “CEO Chu, at a ticket price of two hundred thousand dollars, ordinary people won't be able to afford it.”

Chu Tianming smiled, a smile possessing the composure of one who had seen through history: “Twenty years ago, flying on a plane was also the privilege of the wealthy. Today, four billion people fly globally every year. Two hundred thousand dollars isn't cheap, but in five years it will drop to fifty thousand, in ten years to ten thousand, and in twenty years it will be the same as international airfare today. The logic of technology has always been—expensive then cheap, niche then mainstream.”

At noon, global media began a frenzy. A CNN anchor's voice was shaking: “Beijing to New York in one hour. This isn't science fiction; this is Xingchen.” A BBC anchor followed up: “The global village has truly become a village.”

The Twitter trending topic '#OneHourGlobal' surged to number one worldwide. Netizens' comments flooded in like a tide. 'Beijing to New York in one hour. I just woke up and haven't even brushed my teeth, and I'm in America.' '$200,000? Not expensive. Musk spends fifty-five million to go to space.' 'In the future for business trips, morning meeting in Beijing, lunch in New York, and back to Shenzhen to sleep at night.' 'The global village has truly become a village.'

At one in the afternoon that day, at the New York Stock Exchange, even before the opening bell had finished ringing, Boeing's stock price began to nosedive. Fifteen percent, eighteen percent, twenty percent, twenty-two percent. Airbus followed close behind—twelve percent, fifteen percent, eighteen percent, twenty percent. United Airlines fell twelve percent.

In the trading hall, traders in red vests screamed at their screens. An old broker who had traded aviation stocks for thirty years held his head in his hands: “I've seen 9/11, I've seen the financial crisis, but I've never seen a scene like this. One rocket just blew up the entire aviation industry.” A CNBC anchor's voice trembled: “Boeing has plummeted twenty-two percent, Airbus twenty percent. The ‘Kuafu’ Spaceplane has made the traditional aviation industry obsolete overnight.”

At three in the afternoon that day, in Seattle. In the boardroom of Boeing headquarters, the atmosphere was as somber as a funeral. CEO David Calhoun sat at one end of the long table; on the screen before him, the stock price was still falling. One director asked: “Can we build something similar?”

The CTO shook his head, his voice hoarse: “At least ten years. Combined-cycle propulsion, thermal protection, reusability—every single one took Xingchen five years to conquer. If we chase from scratch, ten years is optimistic.”

The boardroom fell into a deathly silence. At four in the afternoon that day, in Toulouse, the same scene unfolded at Airbus headquarters. CEO Guillaume Faury looked at the stock price, remained silent for a long time, and then said one thing: “We lost.”

At five in the afternoon that day, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby stood before the cameras, with the blue logo of United Airlines behind him. His expression was weary, but his voice remained relatively steady: “United Airlines announces an emergency order for twenty ‘Kuafu’ Spaceplanes to serve as emergency transport aircraft.”

A reporter pressed: “At a ticket price of two hundred thousand dollars, for emergency transport?”

Kirby smiled bitterly: “High-value cargo, emergency medical supplies, VIP clients. These people need speed. Global reach in one hour is worth two hundred thousand. A heart for transplant from Beijing to New York used to take over ten hours with a low success rate. Now, in one hour, it will hardly degrade. That is the value of ‘Kuafu’.”

That evening, the Twitter trending topic '#AviationIndustryEarthquake' hit number one globally. Netizens' comments were as sharp as scalpels. 'Boeing down 22%, Airbus down 20%. Xingchen launched one rocket and blew up the aviation industry.' 'United Airlines buying twenty ‘Kuafus’ as emergency transports. Isn't that a slap in their own face? If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.' 'In the future, it's not that planes are fast, it's that Xingchen is fast.' 'Boeing is still building slow planes while Xingchen already has one-hour global reach.'

Late that night in Shenzhen, Su Chen stood by his office window, looking out at the night scene of Shenzhen Bay. Lin Wan pushed the door open and entered, holding a tablet: “Boeing and Airbus stock prices fell by more than twenty percent. United Airlines ordered twenty planes.”

Su Chen nodded, his gaze never leaving the window: “Global reach in one hour. It's not just about speed; it's about redefining distance. Before, the Earth was huge, and flying took over ten hours. Now the Earth is small, reachable in one hour. From now on, the Earth is no longer a planet; it is a village.”

Outside the window, the moon hung just above the sea. Three hundred and eighty thousand kilometers away, astronauts at the “Guanghan Palace” base were using lunar soil bricks to expand the living modules. Five hundred and fifty kilometers away, two thousand “Nebula 2.0” servers operated silently in the vacuum. On the runway, the “Kuafu” was being refueled, preparing for its next test flight.

Su Chen turned and said to Lin Wan: “Inform Chu Tianming to accelerate the approval for commercial routes. Next June, the three lines—Beijing to Los Angeles, Shanghai to London, and Shenzhen to Sydney—must all open simultaneously.”

Lin Wan nodded: “Will Boeing and Airbus protest?”

Su Chen laughed: “Protest what? Just because they can't build it, they won't let others? The market is fair; whoever is faster wins.”