Chapter 396: Spaceflight has a long way to go

Now, there are only two countries in the world that are engaged in satellite positioning.

One is the United States and the other is the Soviet Union.

The US satellite positioning system GPS started as a project of the US military in 1958 and was officially put into use in 1964. The name of the positioning system at that time was called the Transit Satellite Positioning System. The system intended to work with a star network composed of 5 to 6 satellites, orbiting the earth up to 13 times a day, providing navigation and positioning for the military, and preparing for precision-guided weapons.

At this time, there were about 11 US positioning test satellites in space.

As for the Soviet Union's GLONASS satellite system, the Soviet Union was still ahead of the United States in this regard.

Speaking of aerospace, the Soviet Union created many world firsts, including the first artificial earth satellite ‘Sputnik 1’, the first artificial near-moon satellite ‘Luna 1’, the ‘first lunar synchronous orbit satellite’, the ‘first photo of the back of the moon’, the ‘first manned earth satellite, Gagarin’s’ Vostok 1, the ‘first Venus landing satellite’ Venus 3, the first soft-landing lunar satellite ‘Luna 9’, the first lunar orbit satellite ‘Luna 10’, the first Venus atmospheric probe ‘Venus 4’, the first approach to the moon and return satellite ‘Probe 5’, the first Venus landing satellite ‘Venus 7’, the first lunar robot sampling and return satellite ‘Luna 16’, the first lunar rover ‘Luna 17’, the first Mars landing satellite ‘Mars 2’, the first Mars approach satellite and the first Mars atmosphere probe ‘Mars 3’, the first space station in human history ‘Salyut-1 Space Station’, the first extravehicular activity ‘Vostok 2’, the youngest astronaut, the first female astronaut

It can be said that the Soviet Union has always been far ahead in the field of space, overwhelming the United States.

But the United States suddenly launched a manned moon landing, catching the Soviet Union off guard, and making the Soviet Union's momentum in the field of aerospace fall behind.

No matter how much the Soviet Union publicized its brilliant achievements in the field of aerospace, it seemed pale and powerless in front of the "manned moon landing".

As for why the moon landing was terminated, why it could no longer land on the moon after 40 or 50 years, and why the technical data was lost, it triggered countless associations.

But in Liu Tao's view, the Soviet Union is currently leading in aerospace technology. Even though the Soviet Union failed several attempts to land on the moon, it cannot be denied that the Soviet Union's aerospace technology is indeed far ahead of the world.

In the field of aerospace, China is still far behind.

It was not until 1970 that the "Long March" No. 1 carrying China's first artificial earth satellite "Dongfanghong" No. 1 was successfully launched into space, and China finally saw a satellite flying in space.

In addition, the first recoverable satellite was successfully launched in 1975 and returned smoothly three days later, making China the third country in the world to master satellite return technology.

As for the rest, it is blank.

Liu Tao's eyes not only stayed on the ground and the sea, but also on the air and space.

Before, Liu Tao had reported to the leaders about satellite positioning.

Liu Tao also had some understanding of China's aerospace.

There are two reasons why China's aerospace progress is relatively slow, one is the lack of talent, and the other is the lack of funds.

Aerospace belongs to the world's first-tier high-tech field, which requires a lot of talents, but China lacks talents, and the existing talent team is not enough to carry out more activities.

The second is the lack of funds. High-tech fields such as aerospace are very expensive, and China's current focus is on economic development, and there is not much money to carry out aerospace.

In other words, it is not so easy for Liu Tao to launch a positioning satellite.

And he also learned that in fact, in the 1970s, China began to study the technology and solutions of satellite navigation systems, but because of the great technical difficulty and lack of funds, this research plan called "Lighthouse" was cancelled.

In 1983, Chen Fangyun, a Chinese aerospace expert, proposed using two geostationary orbit satellites to achieve regional navigation functions. However, due to lack of funds, no experiment has been carried out to verify the feasibility of this idea.

"We have a long way to go in the field of aerospace!" The old man sighed, "I don't understand the technology, but I know one thing, science is the primary productive force."

"Just like the technical research of the 022 missile boat, 022A torpedo boat, 054 frigate, and 052 destroyer, it has driven the development of domestic materials and promoted the development of the entire shipbuilding industry, smelting, electromechanical, etc." The old man said: "You are our chief scientist in China, and you have to take the lead in technical research. You proposed to expand university enrollment before. Next year, we will invest more education funds to cultivate more talents."

Liu Tao nodded. He also knew the current difficulties in the field of aerospace in China.

For example, China's current carrier rocket "Long March" No. 1 has a total length of 29.5 meters, a takeoff mass of 81.5 tons, a maximum diameter of 2.25 meters, and a carrying capacity of 300 kilograms.

There is no doubt that the Long March 1 carrier rocket cannot meet Liu Tao's requirements, because the weight of the positioning satellite must exceed 300 kilograms.

He took the leaders to visit the Hong Kong Island frigate, and then experienced the ship's meals with the officers and soldiers on board.

When night falls, it also means that the service of the Hong Kong Island frigate has come to an end. Next, it depends on the officers and soldiers on board to explore and hone their skills, so as to exert the combat effectiveness of the Hong Kong Island frigate.

Whether there are advanced ships is one thing, and whether the ships can exert their combat effectiveness is another.

For example, the full combat effectiveness of the frigate "Hong Kong Island" is 100. Whether it can exert 1 combat effectiveness or 100 combat effectiveness depends on the officers and soldiers on board.

Liu Tao can develop advanced frigates, but he can't be on board all the time.

Liu Tao stayed in Dalian Shipyard. There was no news about the service of the frigate "Hong Kong Island" in the evening news. Obviously, the country did not intend to announce the relevant information of the frigate "Hong Kong Island" at this time.

Even the groundbreaking ceremony of the frigate "Hong Kong Island" is still confidential and has never been reported.

But this is normal. The frigate "Hong Kong Island" is a highly confidential military secret. Reporting at a critical time can play an unexpected role.

In this regard, it is like the first ship of the 052-type destroyer "Xiangjiang" which is currently under construction. It is also a highly confidential military secret.

Even though the Soviet Union and the United States have military reconnaissance satellites in space, they can only know that they are building large warships, but they cannot directly judge the specific performance, and they will most likely think that it is a Type 053 frigate.

After all, the current satellite technology is still relatively limited, and the accuracy is not that high.

Liu Tao came to the dock at night. One of the docks was building the first Type 052 destroyer "Xiangjiang", and another dock was building the third Type 054 frigate "Huludao".

Now Dalian Shipyard can start construction of two large warships at the same time, which shows that the capacity of Dalian Shipyard has been improved in the past period of time.