Chapter 835 Commercialization and Scale

The group soon arrived at the Space Shuttle Assembly Center.

The factory building located in the center of the entire assembly center is the birthplace of Xiangrui and the cradle of a series of spacecraft produced by Xingkong Technology.

At this moment, in this huge factory building, there is a long metal hull lying horizontally. The reason why it is called the hull is because of its huge size, it really looks like a nuclear submarine, not a spacecraft sailing in outer space.

Because the long and narrow hull could hardly bear its own gravity, the entire hull was divided into three sections, which were fixed and suspended in the air by a solid mechanical skeleton.

From the moment they walked into the factory, the Russian delegation looked around curiously like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden.

Mr. Grudev and a group of bureaucrats from the Ministry of Economics and Development are fine. Those aerospace experts who followed the delegation of the Ministry of Economics and Development to France, after seeing the dignity of the Magpie Bridge, their eyes longed to grow. on that thing.

Especially the Russian Aerospace Corporation expert and academician of the Russian Academy of Engineering, Professor Kaufman, who had been following Grudev, was so surprised that his jaw would drop to the ground.

The Russian delegation stopped beside this behemoth for a full five minutes, and Grudev sighed with emotion in an amazed tone.

"Unbelievable... is this your spaceship?"

"Magpie Bridge," Lu Zhou said with a smile, "It's not wrong if you call it a spaceship. Sometimes when I look at this thing, I think it's more like a ship than a spacecraft."

At this time, Academician Kaufman, who had been standing next to Grudev, who had been silent for a long time, finally couldn't help but speak.

"Such a big spaceship... How are you going to send it to space?"

As soon as this sentence was asked, many Chinese personnel standing nearby suddenly became nervous.

The visit is a visit, but when it comes to the technical level, everyone must be tightly covered.

Minister Yang was about to step forward to smooth things over and take this topic to another direction, but he stopped talking when he saw the reassuring look Lu Zhou gave him.

Looking at Academician Kaufman, whose eyes were full of fanaticism, Lu Zhou smiled lightly and said: "We will launch three times, first launch the command module, then the cargo warehouse, and finally the engine, and then dock and assemble in outer space."

Although it was just an understatement, after hearing it, the Russian experts were shocked.

The docking of spacecraft has always been a difficult point in space technology. The more components that need to be docked, the higher the risk of the entire launch process. At present, the relatively mature docking technology in the world can only split the spacecraft into two parts and launch it to Rendezvous and docking in outer space.

However, Lu Zhou's words told him that Huaguo is now able to disassemble a spacecraft into three parts, launch it into outer space and put it together again. Even Minister Grudev, At this moment, a shocked expression appeared on his face.

"I didn't expect your launch technology to reach this level..." Looking at the Magpie Bridge lying on the support, Grudev's face was full of complex expressions, "May I ask, it uses Electric propulsion system?"

Lu Zhou: "The electric propulsion system is the future trend. The market in outer space can be completed without a lot of thrust. The advantage of chemical rockets... ends when it approaches the edge of the gravity well."

Grudev exchanged glances with Academician Kaufman who was standing next to him, and exchanged the shock in their eyes for a moment.

Minister Yang of the Ministry of Commerce coughed lightly, smiled friendlyly, and stepped forward with a smile.

"The visit to the Space Shuttle Assembly Center will end here. There are still many excellent companies in our aerospace industrial park looking forward to cooperating with you."

"It's true, I've been in Xingkong Technology for a long time," Grudev smiled, and continued, "Then please ask Minister Yang to show us around other outstanding companies in your country."

For the rest of the journey, Grudev seemed a little uninterested, and the experts from Russia who followed him also became critical.

Although there are many excellent aerospace companies in the Aerospace Industrial Park, none of them can reach the level of Xingkong Technology. Some are huge in size, and the scale of the park alone is several times larger than the factory of Xingkong Technology, but they lack technology, and neither the production equipment nor the products produced are very advanced. Although some have some very groundbreaking and even eye-catching technologies, the company itself is not big, and it can only reach the level of an accessory supplier if it is in the sky, and it cannot become a big climate.

But after discovering this, Grudev also heaved a sigh of relief in his heart.

Fortunately, Starry Sky Technology only has one.

If this kind of aerospace company with both research and development capabilities and strong production capacity can have another one, then the strength of Huaguo's aerospace industry is too terrifying...

For the rest of the itinerary, Lu Zhou did not accompany the Russian delegation, but at the diplomatic banquet held at the Zijinshan Hotel in the evening, Lu Zhou, as the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Construction Committee, still had to go there to appreciate his face.

The banquet is in Chinese style.

Although he sat at the same table with Grudev and Minister Yang, Lu Zhou didn't speak much during the dinner.

He is not very good at this kind of special formal banquet occasions, unless someone takes the initiative to talk to him, otherwise he will not take the initiative to speak, and instead put almost half of his attention on the delicious food on the table.

However, Minister Grudev, who was shocked by the technology of Xingkong Technology in the morning, obviously did not intend to let him go so easily, and kept talking to him in a flat manner during the meeting.

"Actually, I have always been curious. The aerospace industry is not a strong field in China, but it has developed so rapidly in recent years. Can you tell me how you did it?"

Lu Zhou didn't shy away from this question. He smiled and said, "Find a direction and make it the best."

Grudev made a helpless expression and raised the wine glass in his hand.

"That sounds so abstract."

"It depends on how you understand it." After clinking glasses with Minister Grudev, Lu Zhou took a sip and continued, "The so-called finding the right direction is also finding out how to achieve our goals. It is a great honor that the experts we cooperate with are all excellent scholars, and with their help, I have solved many difficult problems.”

Grudev asked with interest: "What is it to be the best?"

"Sufficient funding, or to put it more specifically, is national execution," Lu Zhou continued, "or to put it more generally, it is to concentrate on doing big things and allocate limited resources in the right place. At present, The main problems facing the industry are commercialization and scale. The former determines the way out, while the latter determines the cost. By concentrating our efforts on big things, we have solved the problem of scale. The next step is commercialization. How to cooperate with other countries and how to guide private capital into this field will become our main task.”

"Scale first, then commercialize?" Grudev asked with a smile, "But does this violate the objective laws of the market economy?"

"This question is different for the beholder, and the wise see the wisdom," Lu Zhou smiled lightly, and asked back, "The Queen of Spain funded Columbus's voyage, and finally successfully discovered the New World. I would like to ask Mr. Grudev whether this is in line with the market. The objective laws of economics?"

Grudev replied: "That's an interesting question, maybe it doesn't fit ... but is there a connection?"

"Of course there is a connection. The ultimate goal of the aerospace industry is to get out of our homeland and open up our living space, and this is essentially the same thing as discovering a new continent," Lu Zhou raised his glass and gently talked with Minister Grudev After clinking glasses, he continued, "The market is the catalyst for social development, but not everything develops in accordance with the laws of the market, at least mathematics has never happened before."

"Hahaha, your point of view is very interesting." After drinking the red wine in the glass, Minister Grudev smiled generously, watching Lu Zhou send out a sincere invitation, "If there is a chance, I sincerely invite you You can go to Russia as a guest, and scholars in Moscow will certainly be willing to discuss this issue with you in depth."

Lu Zhou smiled and said: "There will be a chance. If things go well, I may go to St. Petersburg to participate in the International Congress of Mathematicians next year."

Minister Grudev solemnly promised: "If you really come, we will definitely hold a grand welcome ceremony for you to witness the friendship between the two scholars!"