Chapter 1084 [Occupy the space in Borderlands first, and the profit will be stable]

This time SpaceX received the support of top capital and secured a huge financing of US$3 billion in one go. The five-fold increase in valuation is inseparable from the divine assistance given by "Star Network".

Before, some so-called professionals or media in the outside world thought that Elon Musk would be so worried that he could not sleep when he saw the "Star Network". Little did he know that people were so excited when they heard the news. The sudden appearance of this external competitor gave him a clear path. The "Starlink" project has achieved a turning point.

At this moment, Tian Jiayi, who was sitting by the pool, folded his hands in front of him and said: "This time is indeed very different. In the past, SpaceX's investment amount was in the tens of millions, but this time it suddenly increased to 3 billion US dollars."

Fang Hong said happily: "It is normal for the investment amount to be in the tens of millions in the past. After all, SpaceX's rocket recovery has not been successful yet. It depends on whether the Falcon rocket can be successfully recovered on December 22."

Tian Jiayi said: "But this time, we provided US$3 billion in financing before December..."

Fang Hong said with a smile: "How else can I say that Elon Musk has to thank me? If I don't promote Starnet with great fanfare, how can he possibly convince those behind-the-scenes consortium talkmakers in North America?"

Hearing this, Tian Jiayi couldn't help but asked curiously: "Are you so sure that this is what happened?"

Fang Hong shrugged: "I can see the scarcity of low-Earth orbit resources and the value of satellite telecommunications networks. He, Elon Musk, can also see it. I don't doubt this, otherwise he wouldn't have launched the project last year." After promoting the bankruptcy of the worldVu constellation project, he immediately promoted the Starlink project this year. However, I was quite surprised that he was able to settle those consortium talkers and obtain 3 billion in financing so quickly. There is something."

After a moment of pause, Fang Hong slowly added: "It is not a bad thing to have such an external competitor. Anyway, I am one step ahead, one step ahead, step by step. The vast majority of the most valuable near-Earth scarce orbital resources must be Jiutianxing Network takes the lead."

Fang Hong came out of the swimming pool and said as he walked: "This competitor must be fully respected and cannot be underestimated too much. Tell Luo Liang and Yan Jiandan to give up more launch resources to the Star Network project, the survey telescope project, and the orbit in the near future. The Reef Space Station project can be postponed a little to squeeze out resources and give them to the Star Network."

Jiuzhou Blue Arrow's launch resources are very abundant, far from being comparable to the current SpaceX. However, many space engineering projects require launch resources, and the allocation is actually very tight, and the launch resources are still not enough.

Tian Jiayi followed up and said, "Can the Saturn exploration and Mars exploration projects also be postponed?"

Fang Hong immediately shook his head and said, "All space projects in the Earth-Moon system can be adjusted, but these two space projects must not be tampered with. They are both inter-planetary exploration projects, and the launch window is fixed. We We can’t let Mars and Saturn brake and wait for us. If we miss the window period, we don’t have to wait a few months but several years. Especially for Saturn in the outer solar system. If we miss it, we have to wait seven or eight years. The people below are not willing to wait for me. Willing to wait.”

Tian Jiayi suddenly realized: "That's right. I ignored the launch window. It really can't be moved."

If I miss this, it will not be seven or eight months, but seven or eight years. Such a long time is enough to change many things, and the variables are also very large.

The Saturn exploration plan is very complex and requires extremely careful calculations. Sending the probe to Saturn requires not just flying there directly. This is simply not possible with current human technology.

The general process of the Saturn exploration project of the Nine-Day Project is to first send the probe to the earth's orbit and keep it on standby, then carry out secondary fuel and material replenishment, all of which are completed unmanned, and then start to change orbit with the help of the earth's gravity. The slingshot effect throws yourself out.

After being thrown out by the gravity of the earth, it did not go straight to Saturn in the outer solar system, but first flew towards Venus in the inner solar system, and required two flybys of Venus, because the probe was also orbiting the sun when flying to Venus. When flying to Saturn, you can meet Venus again, so you can use Venus's gravitational slingshot effect to get two free accelerations.

When I was thrown out of Venus during my second flyby, I happened to meet the Earth again at the right time. Because the Earth's orbit revolves around the sun outside of Venus, it flew towards the Earth again and was thrown out by the Earth using the gravitational slingshot effect to further obtain the fourth time. Free acceleration.

After that, it will fly all the way to Jupiter without encountering Mars in the middle. Moreover, Mars has a small gravity, and the acceleration obtained by using the gravitational slingshot effect is limited. The key is that the time window does not allow it.

After flying to Jupiter, the probe will use Jupiter's gravitational slingshot effect to slow down. The gravitational slingshot effect can obtain both acceleration and deceleration, and can also change the direction of the speed.

If it does not use Jupiter's gravity to slow down, it will not be able to park properly into Saturn's orbit when it arrives at Saturn. The probe cannot be captured by Saturn's gravity. After passing directly by, it will fly towards deep space and never be pulled back.

Of course, you can also use the fuel carried by the probe to slow down, but this will be a waste. Even if it is parked in Saturn's orbit, the remaining fuel will not be able to keep the probe operating for long.

It cost tens of billions of dollars to embark on a one-way journey that lasted nearly seven years and flew more than 3 billion kilometers to finally get to Saturn. If we can only work for ten days and a half, this is unacceptable.

The working time of the detector is closely related to the fuel carried, so it is necessary to consume as little fuel as possible on the way to Saturn, so that the working time after arriving at Saturn will be longer.

According to the team's design lifespan, the probe must ensure that the fuel it brings to Saturn can operate normally for 15 years. At such a long distance, there is not much hope of receiving solar energy, so nuclear fission power fuel must be used to support 15 years of operation.

In other words, the total time period from launch to final retirement of the Saturn probe is 22 years. After such a long time, after the probe is retired, new and more advanced second-generation probes are already flying. On the way here.

Fang Hong will not be stingy with his investment in space exploration, unless he encounters some problem and really cannot come up with money. As long as there are no funding constraints, deep space exploration will not be interrupted once it starts, and it will definitely be a seamless connection.

But at this moment, Fang Hong came to the villa and told the beautiful assistant who was accompanying him: "In addition, help me increase the production capacity of small satellites, accelerate the expansion of production capacity, and it will be no problem if they are castrated. They can be integrated into the star network without any requirements. First, Let’s occupy the orbital resources, and then use new satellites to repair the network, and then let it fall into the atmosphere and burn up.”

Tian Jiayi nodded.

Large-scale mass production capacity can further amortize the cost, and further reduce the cost of a small satellite to about 1 million yuan.

It only costs 1 million yuan each, 10,000 is 10 billion, and can be managed for about two and a half to three years. This kind of cost is completely acceptable to Fang Hong in exchange for 10,000 scarce track resources.

With the development and advancement of science and technology, human space activities have become more frequent, and scarce orbital resources will only become more valuable. After occupying the high-value and scarce orbit, Fang Hong did not intend to transfer or sell it. Instead, he provided leasing services and acted as a space landlord to collect rent.

How to price scarce orbital resources? Those who control orbital resources mean they have pricing power.

In the future, it is not a problem that the annual rental fee for a scarce orbit can be priced at US$3 million, because the international cost of a small satellite is approximately US$3 million.

Due to the scarcity of resources, prices are naturally strong.

There are only so many high-value scarce orbital resources. There are only about 100,000 valuable low-Earth orbits within 2,000 kilometers. This can be regarded as a constant value, and human civilization will become more and more frequent in space activities as time goes by. , the scarce orbital resources will not increase accordingly, which will inevitably lead to high prices.

Moreover, the actual price of the scarce orbit must be priced according to the purpose of the satellite. The prices are different for commercial purposes and public welfare purposes. It is the same logic as shops on the ground. The same location and the same shop are used as a restaurant. Or a smartphone store, the rent is different.

Therefore, even if it is for commercial use, we will look at the specific business. There will be a professional team to analyze how much profit your operation can create in a year and what the prospects are. The final pricing will be given after a comprehensive evaluation.

Assume that the average annual rental fee for each scarce track resource is US$3 million. If 5,000 tracks are rented out, the annual rental income is US$15 billion, and it is a stable source of cash flow with guaranteed income during droughts and floods.

In the land of no one, the principle is to occupy the position first. This is a profitable and stable business.

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