Chapter 1664: Someone wants to rebel?

The global shock caused by the "melting pot" list has not yet subsided, and the international public opinion field is filled with smoke of war.

Beijing International Airport.

A Gulfstream G650 private jet landed on runway 36L and then quickly moved to the apron under the command of the tower.

To show his importance, Elon Musk chose a black suit, which he rarely wears, but without a tie.

When he walked out of the cabin, his face had a complex expression mixed with fatigue and strong anticipation.

Given the busy schedule at Beijing's airport, it was certainly impossible for them to make any special arrangements on the tarmac just for a mere businessman like him.

And that doesn't fit the purpose of his visit to China.

Only a small interview was arranged at the immigration entrance.

Facing the waiting media cameras, he stopped and spoke briefly:

"The Chinese market is crucial to Tesla and the future of sustainable energy. My visit aims to strengthen communication with partners, eliminate possible misunderstandings, and deepen our cooperation in areas such as new energy vehicles and clean technologies."

The attitude is obviously lower than before, less ostentatious and more pragmatic.

Then, he added pointedly:

"At the same time, I also look forward to discussing a broader shared future with leaders in relevant fields in China. In this challenging era, dialogue, understanding and cooperation are more important than ever..."

"..."

Combined with the US's previous helpless response, this statement easily gave people a wrong impression.

This trip is to break the ice.

In fact, Musk did say this before he set off.

Anyone can see that the White House is obviously a little scared.

But they can't bring themselves to stop the ban directly.

What's more, China now holds the initiative, and the other side may not stop even if you ask them to.

So Lao Ma's trip just happened to be in line with what Washington wanted.

If the results of the contact are positive, that would naturally be best.

Even if the other party doesn't give a good face during the contact, it's not the official who is embarrassed anyway, and they can still shift the blame later.

However, Musk's actual schedule was completely different from what was agreed.

After visiting the Ministry of Commerce as usual, Musk did not go to inspect investment sites or visit leaders of other economic systems as expected by the outside world. Instead, he came to the headquarters of the Industrial and Construction Commission in an extremely low-key manner.

A small-scale but high-level meeting, which was not announced in advance, took place in a conference room deep inside the Industrial and Construction Commission building.

The only attendees were Director Luan Wenjie, two core assistants, Musk himself and his chief technology strategist.

After the greetings, Musk didn't drag his feet.

He signaled his assistant to operate the equipment, and instantly an extremely clear and stunning holographic image was projected in the center of the conference table.

"Director Luan, thank you for your valuable time." Musk's voice was filled with preaching enthusiasm, pointing to the giant interstellar spacecraft model. "Please allow me to show you SpaceX's ultimate vision - the Mars colonization plan, and this is the 'Starship' system we originally planned as a carrier."

Dynamic video demonstration: The huge Starship and super-heavy booster combination stands on the launch pad, ignites and takes off, the booster separates and returns to land accurately, while the Starship continues to fly into deep space and finally slowly lands on the Martian wasteland.

Although the entire process is 3D animation, we have to admit that the effect is very eye-catching.

If this happened in Washington, a considerable number of people would inevitably be attracted by the scene before them.

But in terms of aerospace, Luan Wenjie is much more authoritative than Musk.

He showed no obvious interest, nor did he respond to the pause.

He just extended his hand slightly to signal the other person to continue.

"Its scale is unprecedented," Musk said, a moment of embarrassment flashing across his face, but he quickly recovered. "The nearly 7500-ton sea-level takeoff thrust is more than twice that of the legendary Saturn V and Energia. The design goal is to deliver more than 50 tons of payload, or a complete colonist module, directly to the surface of Mars in a single trip."

Luan Wenjie leaned forward slightly, examining every detail of the image.

As the former director of the Space Agency, he is well aware of the technical difficulties and risks involved.

After Musk finished speaking, he slowly spoke:

"Mr. Musk, I want to first express my high appreciation and respect for the grand vision demonstrated by you and the SpaceX team, as well as the outstanding achievements in the field of reusable launch vehicles. The conceptual design of the 'Starship' is indeed impressive in scale."

After some routine praise, he changed the subject:

"However, from the perspective of engineering implementation and risk management, I have to raise core concerns about reliability... Sending humans to Mars, 5500 million kilometers away, is a long journey in an extremely harsh environment. Any minor failure in a critical system could lead to catastrophic consequences."

"I haven't received any verification progress on the Starship system. I think it's still at the conceptual level. Do you anticipate that it will take a long and potentially extremely costly process of multiple failures and iterative adjustments before we can truly approach the desired success?"

Luan Wenjie's questioning did not contain any sarcasm, but was like a scalpel.

Accurate and professional.

Musk took a deep breath and instead of avoiding the question, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes as if to say, "Finally you hit the nail on the head."

"Director Luan, your concerns are absolutely correct. This is precisely one of the core challenges we face!"

He leaned forward slightly, his tone becoming unusually focused:

"The reason why the Starship is designed to be so large is largely to overcome the huge energy requirements of traveling directly from the surface of the Earth to Mars. It needs to carry a huge amount of propellant during the takeoff phase to complete the entire journey, but this in turn increases the complexity and risk of the system."

He pressed the page-turning pen again, and the image instantly switched to a dynamic picture of the "Beacon" space station orbiting the Earth-Moon L4 point, with its core XS-1 nuclear power module flashing with a faint blue light.

This is exactly what the China Space Administration released on its official website a few days ago.

"However, your country's unparalleled 'Beacon' program provides us with another possibility..."

The image changes again:

A spacecraft much smaller and simpler than the Starship was launched from Earth by a Falcon Heavy rocket and arrived at the Beacon space station.

After refueling, equipment maintenance, and personnel rest at the "beacon", we will ignite and set off from the "beacon" to fly to Mars.

The image clearly marks the two journeys from Earth to the "beacon" and then from the "beacon" to Mars. The total Delta-V required is far less than going directly from Earth to Mars.

"If we can connect to the Beacon relay base for refueling and resupply, we won't have to wait for the massive and complex Starship," Musk said, his voice quickening. "Instead, we can use our existing Falcon Heavy rocket, which has already been successfully launched once, to carry out the mission of transporting spacecraft from Earth to Mars!"

"This greatly reduces the technical threshold and risks. The 'deep space ferry' responsible for carrying the mission can even be built and assembled in batches in Earth orbit or on a 'beacon', and then set off together. The required propellant dosage and system complexity are greatly reduced due to the shortened journey and the presence of a reliable rear base..."

After the presentation, Musk turned his gaze to Luan Wenjie. "Of course, I know China is developing a launch vehicle that's larger and heavier than the Long March 5, and I believe you have the ability to successfully develop it. But just like the Starship, this rocket is still on paper, and the Falcon Heavy is an immediate option..."

Obviously, he also saw China's long-term ambitions and planned to make good use of this opportunity.

Luan Wenjie still didn't nod or express his opinion, but his eyes were obviously more serious than before.

It was impossible from the outset to reach any effective agreement in these talks.

But it is a good opportunity to test the other party's attitude.

So he turned the conversation directly to the policy level:

"Your proposal is... bold," he said, choosing a more euphemistic approach. "But even without considering the technical issues, the reality isn't optimistic... Cross-Pacific space cooperation has long been closed due to Washington's negative attitude and confrontational tactics."

"Not to mention, your officials recently issued a so-called 'choose one or the other' ultimatum... As far as I know, although SpaceX is an independent, unlisted company, the Falcon series of rockets also uses a lot of technology licensed from NASA..."

Musk replied solemnly: "Please believe that SpaceX is SpaceX, NASA is NASA, and we are an independent commercial aerospace company with independent decision-making power."

"As for NASA's technology licensing... I'm not in a position to disclose some details, but if you listen to our specific cooperation path, you'll know that this won't really be an obstacle."

Hearing this, even Luan Wenjie felt a little fresh, so he reached out again:

"You say."

Musk opened a folder in front of him, turned it 180 degrees and pushed it in front of Luan Wenjie.

"SpaceX is willing to establish an advanced R&D center in China and invest in the construction of a rocket and spacecraft manufacturing plant. In the future, if conditions are ripe and it is in the interests of both parties, we can also establish a dedicated launch site in China to serve the construction and maintenance of the 'Beacon' space station and interstellar transportation missions."

Even though he had been prepared beforehand, considering that the other party must have come here to make a "pledge of allegiance", the first thing he said still shocked him greatly -

He quickly realized that Mr. Ma was probably here not just to discuss cooperation.

But to rebel.

However, Musk hadn’t finished speaking yet:

"In addition, we can cooperate in mutually beneficial areas, such as optimizing rocket engine combustion stability, efficient and reliable long-term deep space life support systems, and on-orbit services required for the 'beacon' space station. We can exchange data or conduct joint research and development."

"More importantly, as a readily available, high-thrust, and highly reliable launch vehicle, the Falcon Heavy can immediately provide powerful, readily available lift support for the Beacon program, accelerating its construction progress."

As a businessman, you always have to focus on making money.

So he mentioned the prospects of the Falcon Heavy rocket again.

The conference room fell into a brief silence.

Luan Wenjie leaned back in his chair, apparently rapidly digesting Musk's series of highly impactful proposals.

After a moment, he slowly spoke:

"Frankly speaking, as a company rooted in the United States and governed by U.S. law, SpaceX will face unimaginable political and legal risks by being deeply involved in a core aerospace project that Washington clearly regards as its number one strategic competitor, even if you emphasize its commercial independence."

"This huge uncertainty is not only fatal to you and SpaceX, but also poses a fundamental threat to the prospects of our cooperation..."

Musk has done his homework on the plane.

Generally speaking, if a Chinese person comes to you and emphasizes the difficulties and obstacles right away.

That could be a positive sign.

In fact, the fact that he was arranged to meet directly with the head of the Industrial and Construction Committee today is itself a positive signal.

Sure enough, Luan Wenjie then made another 180-degree turn:

"However, the original intention of China's 'Beacon' project is to open it to all like-minded partners who uphold the principle of peaceful use of outer space, and to jointly promote the great cause of human exploration of the universe. We welcome all sincere cooperation proposals that serve the common interests of both sides and can effectively promote the realization of this goal."

"Therefore," he concluded, "I will immediately report your detailed proposal and SpaceX's willingness to cooperate to the highest decision-making level as a top priority. We will conduct the most careful assessment based on a comprehensive evaluation of core national interests, technical feasibility, and potential risks, and will provide you with a formal and responsible response through appropriate channels as soon as possible."

Although this set of polite words did not make any clear promise, it was undoubtedly a reassurance.

Musk nodded. "Then SpaceX and I await your response..."