Free Web NovelChapter 1427: Chapter 676 Lunar Base Plan Negotiation_2
The Aerospace Bureau cannot always provide service support for Yixing’s space exploration as they have their own project plans.
Now, their core plan is to build an ultra-large aerospace center.
"We hope to build an ultra-large aerospace center that can accommodate more than 20,000 aerospace workers."
"The influence of this aerospace center will cover the entire world and will become the largest aerospace technology center in the future."
"As a very important part of it, our initial consideration was to construct a large radar facility in space."
"But now, we have a better choice. We hope to establish an ultra-large radar on the lunar surface and build related auxiliary facilities."
Zhao Yi felt the headache upon hearing this.
Building an ultra-large radar on the Moon? How easy could that be? Just the transportation of materials was a problem, moreover, the radar certainly couldn’t stand alone; it required numerous auxiliary facilities to maintain its operation.
All of these would need to be constructed manually. Even if it were easy to send astronauts to the Moon, it would still require a large number of astronauts to work for a long time to complete the task.
"So, you’re planning to cooperate with us on the Lunar Base project?"
Zhao Yi asked, "But haven’t we already entered into related cooperation?"
"It’s not just that!"
Academician Zhou of the Aerospace Bureau said, "Our cooperation is based on a technical perspective. You’ve seen the Lunar Base; we can send researchers to work there."
"But it does not include the construction of a large radar. Because of this radar project, we’re planning to build a transport ship."
Zhao Yi realized what was going on.
Of course, the Aerospace Bureau lacked the technology to build a transport ship perfectly; they hadn’t even started on the design. To truly build a transport ship from scratch would definitely take a considerable amount of time, and even then, it might not be perfect. Testing would also take a long time.
Yixing’s transport ship was under construction.
Because the testing of the sightseeing ship went smoothly, many people believed there would be no problem with the transport ship. This meant that Yixing had perfect transport ship technology.
Academician Zhou said, "We’d like to rely on your technology to build a similar transport ship, but this requires patent authorization and your provision of technology and software support."
"Perhaps, we could make a purchase?" Yuan Haitao, one of Zhao Yi’s assistants, tentatively asked.
Academician Zhou replied with a wry smile, "We can’t afford it. It’s too expensive! According to our information, the manufacturing cost of your transport ship itself exceeds five billion, right?"
"There’s a lot of patented technology involved, and you definitely wouldn’t sell it at cost. So, we would have to pay at least seven billion or eight billion?"
Zhao Yi and the others of the Yixing team smirked upon hearing this.
They thought Academician Zhou was being absurdly naive. A transport ship with a cost of five billion sold for seven or eight billion? That was practically like giving it away.
The minimum price for selling such a high-level space transport ship to outsiders would also exceed twenty billion.
Academician Zhou shook his head, "That’s a lot of money, which we just don’t have. So, we have to build it ourselves, and all we can provide is aerospace technology."
The aerospace technology he mentioned included many patents.
The building of the transport ship required the Aerospace Bureau’s assistance, particularly with the internal electronic control systems, as well as landing, takeoff, and detection technologies, all of which were provided by the Aerospace Bureau.
However, Yixing paid a large sum for the patents; the transport ship alone accounted for over three hundred million in patents and technical support fees.
Yixing began negotiations with the Aerospace Bureau’s delegation concerning cooperation on the Lunar Base project. The first issue discussed by both parties was the export of spacecraft.
Yuan Haitao gave a brief, "The export of spacecraft is inevitable. Take the sightseeing ship, for example. Space tourism is a new market, but no market can be monopolized, especially not overseas."
"If limited to the domestic market, the size would be greatly reduced."
"To stimulate the development of the space tourism market, it’s necessary to export sightseeing ships and gradually normalize the market."
"Yixing is a technology company, not a travel agency," Zhao Yi explained. "Our focus is mainly on research and development, space exploration, rather than competing in the tourism market."
"This also includes transport ships," Zhao Yi continued. "We will not compete in the space transportation market."
"At the same time, all the latest technology developments require substantial financial support. It’s only with enough investment that we can rapidly develop the space market," he added.
Yuan Haitao emphasized the market related to space exploration.
In the field of space exploration, to achieve economic returns, one must first make significant expenditures. The development of the latest technologies, which includes sightseeing ships, transport ships, or other spacecraft, all demand massive financial support.
If the spacecraft cannot be exported, the return on investment is simply too slow, which can also affect the development of space exploration.
The Aerospace Bureau, in partnership with the Aviation Group and departments such as the Office of Science and Technology, was also drawing up terms to normalize the export of the latest technology, instead of having to have a special discussion for every new type of equipment.
In this regard, the two sides had much to discuss.
Afterward, the Aerospace Bureau confirmed it would speed up communication with other departments to ensure the swift introduction of relevant policies.
The two sides quickly reached an agreement on the manufacture of transport ships.
The issue of manufacturing transport ships was one of patent rights. The Aviation Group granted several related patents and technical support to Yixing Company without conditions, meaning that manufacturing related spacecraft would no longer require patent fees.
Simultaneously, Yixing Company would be able to share the design and manufacturing technology of the transport ships and provide corresponding software service support.
This was tantamount to technology sharing.
During the negotiations for the Lunar Base project, however, there was significant disagreement between the two sides, mainly because a single transport ship was hardly enough to meet the requirements of the Aerospace Bureau, and they temporarily lacked the funds to build more.
The Aerospace Bureau wanted Yixing to contribute a certain ratio of the funding for radar construction, or even provide some personnel to help with the build.
Of course, this was impossible.
If it were on Earth, sending out a few workers would hardly matter, but for construction plans on the Moon, sending a single person could mean an expense of more than ten million, not to mention the additional funding. It would be like asking a company operating normally to spend a significant amount of money subsidizing a project belonging to the Aerospace Bureau.
Zhao Yi shook his head and refused outright. He had to consider the company’s interests. He then suggested, "We can do it like the space shuttle project, allowing other agencies to join the Lunar Base plan."
"Allowing them to send personnel to participate and to dispatch scientists into the base to take part in research and construction plans, among other things," he said.
"This would help to share some of the financial burden."
In the past, Yixing had negotiated the Lunar Base project with the Aerospace Bureau, which could participate, but Yixing would own all future revenues related to it.
If other agencies were brought in, like the space shuttle project, multiple agencies could fund the endeavor, turning the base into a multinational project.
Both Yixing and the Aerospace Bureau could reduce their investment, and the Aerospace Bureau could continue to build the space center, inviting world scientists to participate.
In fact, this approach was the best, because a lot of the information from space exploration would be openly shared with the public, essentially serving humanity unconditionally.
The large space center built by the Aerospace Bureau was planned to house over twenty thousand aerospace workers, while the number of aerospace workers domestically fell far short, clearly aiming to attract international talent.
Thus, involving other agencies directly was also a way to attract talent.
The Aerospace Bureau and Yixing would control the Lunar Base project’s lead, while other agencies could only utilize the research environment. frёewebnoѵēl.com
Just as M Country used to attract talent, by offering the best research environment and conditions, it could continuously draw people in.
This had become a key element of development.
Talent is the most important for technological advancement; being able to attract a sufficient amount of talent can always keep technology in a leading position.
Conversely, the inability to attract talent means technology will fall behind.
Yixing and the Aerospace Bureau had much discussion, finalizing many details of their cooperation, and finally concluded negotiations related to the Lunar Base project.
Next, they awaited the transport ship currently under construction, which would commence the initial plan.
