It was the wind, a fierce crosswind caused by sudden temperature changes due to thermal currents near the surface!

Ma’s Falcon 9 had often been defeated by this very element!

In America, watching the live broadcast, Ma was almost starting to doubt that a miracle was about to occur—just as he did every time he watched the final moments of a Falcon 9 launch. Yet, he knew that it was going to be another predictable failure.

Because at that moment, the rocket was only 400 meters away from the ground, and its tilt angle had already exceeded the engine’s gimbal range; there was no way to correct it anymore.

Lin Ju’s hands were nearly bleeding from the grip, his heart filled with reluctance, while also feeling regret: Could it be that he had been too aggressive, and the system wasn’t all-mighty after all?

However, Guo Shen in the control room, with his hands propped on the console and a face that was dark but lacked the color of defeat, murmured in a voice so soft only he could hear:

"Fuel is still at 4%, that’s enough, more than enough."

Outside the launch site at that very moment, the heavily leaning rocket seemed on the verge of crashing to the ground, and just as everyone was about to express their pity, they suddenly heard a booming sound.

That was the ring of ultra-small solid rocket motors buried at the top of the rocket, arranged in a fan shape around the axis and perpendicular to the rocket.

They were divided into three layers, ensuring there was one in every radial direction that could be ignited instantaneously to produce a brief but powerful thrust, quickly correcting the attitude.

This technology was commonly used in missiles, and military enthusiasts knew that when missiles were launched vertically at high speed and suddenly changed to horizontal in the high atmosphere, it was because of the micro solid rocket motors installed on the missile’s body, firing intense flames that violently altered its attitude.

Rockets usually used a RCS (Reaction Control System), releasing gases like nitrogen—gentler but with less instantaneous thrust and easier to control.

But at that moment, it was clear that micro solid rocket motors were far more useful, capable of altering the rocket’s attitude in a few seconds.

The rocket, which had been tilting at a large angle, instantly swung in the opposite direction, then the solid rocket motors on the other end were ignited, and before they had burned out, the remaining ones on the opposite side were also ignited, the bi-directional force readjusting the rocket’s attitude back to vertical.

At the same time, the throttle valves of the bottom rocket engines opened wider, and the suddenly increased thrust slowed the descent rate of the rocket—which had drifted outside the launch site and was only a little over a hundred meters from the ground—to just two or three meters per second, almost hanging still in mid-air.

Then the engine nozzles swayed slightly again, controlling the rocket’s slow descent while moving towards the landing point.

This process was very complex, but the total time it took to unfold did not exceed 5 seconds, reviving the first-stage rocket from certain doom and forcefully snatching it back to life.

Next to He Tang, Chief Designer Zhao slapped the table and stood up, leaning forward as if trying to stuff his head into the screen to watch the outcome closely.

No further accidents occurred this time, the inclined tail flame of the rocket gradually straightened, then the throttling valves were gradually closed. Amidst the shaking and noise of the ground being bombarded, the rocket steadily decreased in altitude, the ascending heatwaves causing the camera’s image to massively distort.

meters, 50 meters, 30 meters, the rocket’s attitude unchanged, steadily lowering in height.

meters above the ground, the four landing legs smoothly extended under the action of hydraulic cylinders, positioning their ends below the engine nozzles.

In Lin Ju’s heart-wrenching beat, the engine’s tail flame diminished and engine shutdown occurred less than one meter from the ground.

The four landing legs immediately touched down, and the thirty-three-meter-tall Core Stage One, affected by its own weight, vibrated upon touchdown but quickly halted due to the springs in the support legs.

The live broadcast finally switched to the landing site, where at that moment a white rocket, its exterior scorched by the atmosphere and tail flame to the point where it appeared to be flaking paint, spread its black claws, perfectly covering the center of the X-shaped landing target.

Lin Ju collapsed heavily into the sofa, covering his face with his hands and taking deep breaths.

"It’s, a, success! Ahhh!"

"Damn, damn damn damn!"

The control room, which had been quiet up until then, was engulfed in crazy cheers, almost bursting Lin Ju’s eardrums, yet he himself seemed oblivious, clutching his fists tightly and waving them continuously.

This time, he made history!

The New Yuan 1B not only succeeded in recovery, but it actually managed a comeback against the wind, using its incredibly powerful flight control to save itself from the brink of destruction.

This proved not only that vertical recovery was feasible, but also that its anti-interference capability wasn’t the least bit inferior, and was even more stable than what was commonly deemed possible.

"Old Tong, look, it worked, the rocket actually worked! Ahahaha."

Zhou Rui, while watching the rocket, kept nudging Tong Peiqiang next to him, but could only hear muffled acknowledgments in return.

"Ah, Old Tong, what’s wrong with you... Someone come quick, Director Tong’s jaw has dislocated!"

However, his shouts were drowned out by a chorus of loud cheers; it took a while before the medical staff from the infirmary came running to cart Director Tong away.

Zhou Rui turned to shake Androff’s shoulder: "Look, the Chinese have achieved rocket recovery!"

Androff, expressionless: "Zhou, I am a Tatar, of the same origin as the Mongols, not white, and now I hold Chinese citizenship. The rocket was designed by me too, so it should be ’we’."

"Haha, right, ’we’ it is!"

In the deputy director’s office of the Eighth Academy, He Tang lay in his chair like someone drained of strength, muttering to himself:

"Impossible, this is not scientific, could it be that we’ve been too conservative to take a big step forward?"

Chief Designer Zhao, equally shocked, shook his head and said:

"The aerospace industry is about to change. Rocket recovery is feasible. Even if reused 10 times, the cost could be reduced by more than 80%... We are going to be busy; reusable rockets will completely change everything.

Damn it, all those meetings we had, they’re not as effective as ten minutes of their success!"

Across the ocean, Ma looked at the Core Stage One rocket frozen on the screen, listening to the sweet-sounding host’s nutritionless explanation, with his hands crossed under his chin.

"CEO."

His assistant reminded him to check his phone, where he saw the Little Blue Bird app’s interface, with countless people frantically mentioning Ma.

Without needing to guess, he knew what it was about.

"Scott, when is our next rocket launch scheduled?"

"Next January, still launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base," the assistant replied respectfully.

"Are we confident this time?"

Looking at Ma’s cryptic expression, Scott quickly said:

"No need to be discouraged, sir. We have collected the data, and the flight control is undergoing further improvement..."

"Alright," Ma interrupted him, closing his eyes for a few seconds before reopening them with renewed determination.

"A sudden Chinese private aerospace company achieving what I couldn’t for ten years is indeed... maybe discouraging, I admit that, especially when they nailed it on their first try.

But this also precisely tells me we were right, and SpaceX is not far behind, just a little bit more and we’ll surely succeed. The greatest fear in scientific research is not knowing if you will succeed. Now that we have gone from pioneers to followers, we should quickly catch up by leveraging the advantage of coming from behind.

From now on, we will produce a Falcon 9 rocket every month and launch one every month until we succeed. We have thousands of employees, the strongest production capacity, and support from NASA; Scott, we will succeed, we absolutely will!"