Chapter 814 Super Electromagnetic Orbital Launcher

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There are many routes to develop the space industry, and each route has its own advantages, so he must think clearly when sorting out relevant technical materials.

The first route is to continue the current aerospace industry, that is, to rely on rocket launches to send materials into space, which is the most familiar method for everyone.

The advantage is obvious, that is, the existing industrial foundation and technology system can be used without having to reinvent the wheel, and the cost of the industrial construction stage is relatively low.

The disadvantage is also obvious, that is, the upper limit is limited, no matter how it is done, the cost cannot be reduced too much, so the operating cost is relatively high, which seems a bit out of date for large-scale space projects.

Of course, he will definitely have black technology in his hands, such as replacing the power system required for the existing rocket launch with electric propulsion, which can greatly reduce the weight of energy carried and greatly increase the payload.

As for the insufficient density of the battery to carry enough electric energy, there is actually a solution, not to mention the small controllable nuclear fusion, he has not planned to take it out so early.

Instead, microwave wireless power transmission technology is used to directly build large-scale microwave power transmission facilities on the ground to continuously transmit power to the running rockets.

The only disadvantage is that the power of microwave power transmission technology is relatively large, which will cause certain harm to the surrounding environment, but this disadvantage can be overcome completely, as long as it is built in a deserted place.

There are too many uninhabited places in the northwest of our country, and there are enough places to build such launch sites, so this is actually not a big disadvantage.

There is also the need for advanced electric propulsion technology, at least the current electric propulsion technology is too backward, far from reaching the point of propelling rocket launches, and a thrust of 1n is considered a good electric propulsion.

The technical problem is easy to solve. Ye Shu is fully capable of providing a large enough electric propulsion, but he thinks that the rocket launch has obvious disadvantages, that is, it cannot launch large or irregular components.

If you want to build a general space station, there is no problem with such a plan, but if you want to build a sky city, many parts are relatively large, and not all of them are of regular shape.

The use of rockets is not so applicable, and even some parts cannot be transported by rockets, so he thought about it and gave up using this technical route.

The second plan he thought of was the space elevator, which is a scene described in many science fiction novels, which is to build a large-scale spacecraft in space.

The spacecraft is in geostationary orbit, and then the spacecraft and the ground are connected and fixed using high-strength, high-tenacity, and light-weight ropes.

Then install a space ladder that can climb on these connected ropes, and send the cargo directly to space along the connected ropes,

Since this plan appears in many science fiction novels, it must be feasible.

The biggest problem is the qualified rope. If there is no suitable rope, let alone transporting materials into space, the weight of the rope itself is enough to pull the spacecraft back to the ground.

In fact, this kind of rope was produced by him with technology. Its own density is more than twice that of air, but its tensile strength is very high, so it can be used as a space rope.

It's just that if this solution is adopted, the ground fixed point must be placed on the equator, and our country has no territory on the equator, so we need to lease other people's territory, which is very troublesome.

Usually, people don't care about making some money, but if there are other countries playing tricks, as long as there are more benefits, there is a possibility of turning their faces at any time.

Moreover, the load capacity of the space elevator depends on the mass of the geostationary orbit spacecraft. If the mass is too small, the amount transported each time is not too large, and the cost is not necessarily low.

The only advantage is that it does not require such a large acceleration. If it is used for personnel transportation, it is much more friendly than rockets and can be suitable for all ages.

Although he didn't want to speculate on others with the greatest malice, but in his position, he was no longer a fool, how could he put his fate in the hands of others.

What's more, if you want a space elevator to have a higher payload, the quality of the geostationary orbit spacecraft alone is not low. The cost of building such a spacecraft is very high.

Perhaps building such a thing would cost more than the space station that Baihu Technology Company wanted to build. It could only be said to be more advanced than the current space transportation method, but it had not yet reached his ideal level.

Moreover, a few ropes are suspended in the air, and the geostationary orbit spacecraft cannot be moved casually. If someone really makes trouble, there are plenty of ways, and there will definitely be a lot of troubles in the future.

So after thinking about this plan, he still gave up, and the overall construction is still very difficult, and the cost is not low. The most important thing is that the construction period is very long, and it will take several years to complete.

The third option is to use artillery shells to transport materials to low-Earth orbit, but this idea is said when others are joking.

Because from practical considerations, it is almost impossible. This method of launch, not to mention whether it can increase the material to the required initial velocity, even the acceleration is not something that ordinary cargo can afford.

You must know that most of the materials transported into space are precision devices. If the acceleration is too high, it is very likely that they will be broken before they are launched.

Not to mention transporting personnel, no one can withstand such a high acceleration, so it seems like nonsense, but it has been certified by someone, and it is feasible to a certain extent.

It is definitely not using the ordinary shell launch method, but the electromagnetic orbital accelerator is used to complete the acceleration work. Everyone knows this common sense.

As long as the electromagnetic orbit is built long enough, it can still be accelerated to a satisfactory initial velocity with a small acceleration, and materials can be launched into space.

Of course, this is only in theory, and there are many problems to be solved. The first is how to make the electromagnetic track able to accelerate large-mass and large-volume cargo.

There must be a strong electromagnetic force acting on the projectile, and a greater electromagnetic force requires a larger electromagnetic field, but the projectile itself is a sophisticated electronic device.

If the electromagnetic field is too large, it will cause serious damage to the electronic equipment inside the projectile, so how to make the electronic equipment inside the projectile safe and sound in a high magnetic field environment is very important.

I thought it was over, this is just a small difficulty, the biggest difficulty comes from air resistance, why many fighters can theoretically reach Mach 2 or more.

But in actual combat, it is difficult to reach this speed. It is not that the pilot does not want to, but that he cannot do it. If he wants to reach the speed of Mach 2, he must be in a high-altitude environment.

The closer the distance to sea level, the higher the air density. Under the same conditions, the greater the resistance that needs to be overcome. If a fighter plane dares to exceed Mach 2 at high altitudes, if it does the same at low altitudes, it is very likely that the fighter plane will disintegrate directly.

However, if the electromagnetic orbital accelerator wants to throw materials into space, it needs a very high initial velocity, and the higher the initial velocity, the greater the air resistance, and then a higher initial velocity is required, and then the resistance becomes greater.

Even if all of the above are overcome, due to the need for too much initial velocity, whether the resulting launch cost is cost-effective is also a question that needs to be considered.

Most importantly, it is still unknown whether the multiple sound barriers produced by high-speed objects and air can withstand the impact on the objects and people inside.

The above are the technical problems encountered by this solution. If these problems cannot be solved well, this solution will not be feasible.

The advantages are also obvious, that is, there is no need to operate on other people's sites, it can be completely independent, and there is no need to worry about being interfered by people in space, and the launch efficiency is higher.

The fourth is a hybrid solution. In the early stage, an electromagnetic orbiter can be used to provide a certain initial velocity, and a rocket booster can be used for subsequent acceleration.

The old M space shuttle was launched in a similar way. In the early stage, a transport plane was used to provide an initial speed for the space shuttle, and it was transported to a certain altitude. After all, the higher the altitude, the lower the air density and the lower the energy consumption.

The spacecraft then starts its engines from the transport plane, disengages from the transport plane, and accelerates on its own to continue its flight to space, which requires less fuel to be carried.

Of course, there are other more sci-fi ones, such as the anti-gravity system. Before the space technology is cracked, it is meaningless to talk about anti-gravity. With the current scientific level, don't even think about it.

It stands to reason that the fourth option should be a relatively mature one. After all, they have already done it, which shows that under comprehensive consideration, this option is the most feasible and the cost should be the lowest.

But he prefers the electromagnetic orbital accelerator launch method, the reason is very simple, that is, the launch efficiency is high, and a large amount of materials can be delivered to space in a short period of time.

If it is just to build a space station, the first method is enough. If an electromagnetic orbital accelerator is used, the cost is very high. Just building an electromagnetic orbit is a huge project and the cost is very high.

But he has to think about the future. If he really wants to build a permanent base on the moon in the future, the current efficiency of material delivery will not be enough.

Moreover, although the construction cost of the electromagnetic orbital accelerator is high, the more times it is used, the lower the cost will be evenly distributed. Of course, this is ignoring the technical input cost.

Because the technology is provided by him, the investment in technology research and development is much smaller, which is one of his advantages in developing electromagnetic orbital accelerators.

In addition, his company also has profound technology and industrial accumulation for electromagnetic orbital accelerators, and some technologies of maglev trains can be used in this.

What he needs to do now is to reduce the construction cost of the electromagnetic orbital accelerator. The electromagnetic orbit he wants to build should have a minimum exit speed of 9,000 meters per second and a maximum speed of 20,000 meters per second.

The former is to meet the needs of low-earth orbit launches, and the latter is to meet the needs of delivering materials to Mars and the moon. After all, construction requires overall planning.

If this requirement is followed, the total length of the electromagnetic orbital accelerator needs to reach 10,000 kilometers in length, and the surrounding design is adopted. If it is built in a straight line, it will not be able to fit in the huge land of our country.

In order to avoid the problems of overheating and excessive resistance caused by the high density of air at low altitudes, the entire orbit adopts a vacuum design, and the air in the orbit is evacuated before launch.

In addition, the height of the end of the track needs to reach more than 10,000 meters. This is the most difficult challenge. It is very difficult for buildings on the earth to reach a height of about 800 meters, let alone a height of 10,000 meters.

To achieve this, we must first start with the material. In addition to meeting the requirements of electromagnetic acceleration, it must also be a lightweight material, and it must also have sufficient hardness and toughness.

He also needs to solve the impact of high-air flow on the electromagnetic track, requiring many auxiliary designs to reduce damage caused by high-speed air flow.

In addition to the electromagnetic orbital accelerator, the cargo-carrying spacecraft also requires high technical requirements. First, it needs to have strong anti-magnetic and electromagnetic shielding functions, which are to prevent the magnetic field of the electromagnetic orbit from damaging the internal cargo.

Secondly, it needs to be resistant to high temperature, or it can effectively reduce the local high temperature, otherwise the high speed and air friction will be burned in minutes.

Moreover, in order to save costs, this kind of spacecraft must be reusable. It is really not worthwhile to rebuild one every time it is launched.

In fact, technical issues have never been what Ye Shu is worried about. He has a lot of ways to achieve his goals, unless he can't come up with things like anti-gravity that are far beyond the current level of technology.

He needs to consider how to achieve it at a lower cost. After all, Baihu Technology Company is just an enterprise with limited financial strength. If the investment exceeds their ability to bear, it will not help.

For such a huge amount of work, if you want to reduce the cost, you must use very common raw materials. Even if you use steel to build it, the construction cost is also frighteningly high.

Moreover, the density of steel itself is very high. Using steel materials, it is impossible for the end of the track to reach a height of tens of thousands of meters, and the weight alone cannot bear it.

Ye Zishu thought for a long time, and at the same time went to the virtual library to read some materials, and finally developed a composite material mainly composed of three elements and o.

In addition to meeting the above requirements, the most important thing is that the service life is extremely long, and it is not afraid of oxidation at all. If it is used normally, it will be used for hundreds of years without any problems.

The most important thing is that these three elements can be found in the air, and the production method is very simple. There is no need to separate the elements, and they can be synthesized directly using carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen.

This is just one of the materials used to make the outer shell of the vacuum electromagnetic track, and there must be a set of inner cores inside. For this reason, Ye Shu continued to look for suitable materials.

This is the longest time he has spent in the field of materials. It took him a month just to find the materials, and he spent almost all of his time on it.

Materials are the cornerstone of modern technology. During this month, more than 300 material problems were solved, covering all types of materials required for the construction of electromagnetic tracks.

After finishing all this, he was secretly relieved. Next, he needed to solve the production problem of materials. After finding the materials, he had to consider how to produce them cheaply.

After he finished the technical arrangement of the production process, another half month passed, and then he began to design the electromagnetic orbital launcher.

After the design was completed, he considered the design and manufacture of the space vehicle. Not only must the space vehicle be launched safely, but it must also return to the ground safely, which is not a small challenge.

By the time he had settled everything, it was already August, and he had been staying at home for nearly three months, except for eating and sleeping, and working.

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