Chapter 756 Placement of Space Elevator
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In the present world, 237 nautical miles east of Anga Island, this is the territorial sea border of the new country. Further to the southeast is the endless open sea, and there is not even a single island nearby. However, because of the recent application for manganese nodule mining here, Future Mining has towed an offshore platform with an engineering ship.
But it's strange to say that after Futureman Mining left this offshore platform alone in the sea, there has been no sign of starting construction. Except for a few soldiers on guard and a few civilians who looked like staff, there was no equipment for mining.
What does Future Group want to do?
The United States, which has been staring at the Future Group since the completion of Penglai City, is undoubtedly the most curious. But curiosity is curiosity, and they are not good at asking directly, so the White House used its usual method, leaking this information through an unnamed White House official, and then asked these reporters to inquire about the news.
However, the Future Group obviously doesn’t like journalists. When asked about the offshore platform deployed by Future Mining, the answers are all in one sentence: “Legal behavior, no comment.”
The "cover-up" of the Future Group actually made the public even more curious. For a time, all kinds of rumors were rampant, and various keyboard warriors expressed their opinions to analyze the actions of Future Group and dig out the deep-seated reasons. Some people say that Future Heavy Industry is building the second Penglai City, some people say they are building an underwater city, and some even say that they found the remains of aliens under the sea
Public opinion was easily directed in strange places.
What is Future Group doing?
Everyone is curious about this question
"what is that?"
After boarding the offshore platform, Kerwin of the Xinghuan Trade Space Technology Center glanced directly above the platform, where there was a board about 20 square meters horizontally. From the outside, it doesn't look like a solar panel, but he really can't think of the function of this thing.
"Anti-satellite laser array. It's too troublesome to introduce. In short, it means that the spy satellite above our heads can only see a luminous spot of more than ten square kilometers, and all the radio signals monitored become a chaotic mess of noise. "Jiang Chen patted the guardrail of the feared offshore platform, looked at Kerwin and smiled, "This is one of the top secrets of the Future Group, now you still have a chance to go back on your word."
"But that would make me so curious that I couldn't sleep." Kerwin shrugged and followed Jiang Chen.
The water droplets stopped right in front of the offshore platform, but Jiang Chen was obviously not going to show him this weird submersible.
After entering the water drop, Jiang Chen set the route on the holographic screen, and then turned on the panoramic imaging, turning the entire Water Drop One into a veritable water drop, transparent from the inside to the outside
"Amazing technology." Kerwin reached out and poked the bulkhead, pointing to the steel plate. "This is the first time I've seen such a magical submersible. Is this the top secret thing?"
"Do you think it needs to be kept secret?" Jiang Chen laughed.
Kerwin also smiled.
That's right, compared to the technology that the Future Group has come up with, this thing has no bright spots worth keeping secret. Even in Penglai City, Jiang Chen did not hide anything from the media when the construction started. He even started to auction off the real estate on this artificial island when the construction was halfway through.
Obviously, there is something incredible hiding under the sea.
However, what puzzled Kerwin was why he found him for the things under the sea. His job was in aerospace!
Without waiting for a long time, that is, within two minutes, Shuidi No. 1 has slowly dived to the bottom of the sea. When the searchlight was turned on, Kerwin followed the beam of light, his eyes widened.
A giant metal cube, from the top down, is at least two to three kilometers long and wide. Compared with Penglai City, this cube is not shocking, but for some reason, he can feel a stronger sense of science fiction from this structure
And his intuition told him that this thing has something to do with aerospace.
Reminiscent of what Jiang Chen told him about the space elevator some time ago, a hint of understanding suddenly emerged in his heart.
"Well, what the hell is this?" Kerwin asked tremblingly.
"I thought you could guess it," Jiang Chen turned his head and smiled, and pressed on the holographic screen to make the water drop stop in place. "The base of the space elevator is not finished yet."
Yes, this is only a semi-finished product.
The base of the space elevator obtained from the Beluga Seabed Research Station is disassembled parts. Jiang Chen mobilized all the amphibious engineering robots he brought to the present world, and assembled these parts for half a month. This way.
Kerwin was silent for a while, then sighed.
"For some reason, I always have a feeling of regret."
Jiang Chen asked, "Oh? Why?"
"The era of the Rockets is over before you can make the most of what you have learned in your life." Kerwin said in a teasing tone.
At least, the era of space rockets is over.
If the cost of spaceflight can be reduced from tens of millions of dollars to less than one thousand dollars, who else will pay for space rockets? Even SP's Falcon rockets can't be so cheap. It is foreseeable that the Starlink trade, which controls the space elevator, will take over all satellite launch projects in the world, at least commercial satellite launch projects, without any suspense.
"It's too early to say that." Jiang Chen shook his head with a smile. After a short pause, he continued, "The space elevator has only completed the first phase of the project, which is the base of the space elevator, and the remaining part , needs to be completed jointly by the Aerospace Science and Technology Center and Future Heavy Industry.”
Unlike all buildings on Earth, this "Babel" leading to geosynchronous orbit was built from the top down. First build the space station in synchronous orbit, and then start the construction of the terminal balance and the 360,000-kilometer orbit at the same time.
This also means that all construction materials must be launched into outer space by rocket. Leaving aside the cost of the material itself, the cost of rocket launch alone is not a small sum. This is why Jiang Chen has been acquiring private aerospace companies since last year to develop the Halo series of rockets. Only by lowering the launch cost to a relatively reasonable price can Future Group have the conditions to build a space elevator.
As early as last year, Jiang Chen was preparing for this moment.
"All the technical information about the space elevator has been developed, and the next thing we need to do is to remove it from the drawing. I will not set an upper limit for the budget of the entire project, and your only task is to complete this project for me. Tower of Babel."
After pausing for a moment, Jiang Chen continued smiling.
"If it succeeds, your name and mine will be recorded in the annals of history." To be continued.
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