A single successful recovery was far from enough. In the previous life, Ma successfully recovered the Falcon 9 rocket for the first time at the end of 2015, but it wasn’t until after several successful recoveries in 2017 that people thoroughly proved the feasibility of vertical recovery technology.

So after the factory was refurbished, nine days after the last recovery, the first stage of New Yuan 1B was once again mounted on the launch tower.

The second stage was still weighted with cement, and the rocket, re-painted, showed no difference from the last time, except for the ablation on the bottom of the rocket, which was left untreated—it didn’t affect performance, and the tail flame would erase it anyway, rendering any aesthetic concerns unnecessary.

Including the cement weights, the total cost to refurbish the rocket and refuel was only 1.6 million, of which 1.4 million was used for the thermal insulation tiles.

"Androff, why don’t we use stainless steel?"

Lin Ju asked Androff, looking at the pure white surface of the rocket, expressing his confusion.

In the previous life, the Sky Fork rocket casings loved to use stainless steel because it was more heat-resistant and sturdier than the aluminum alloy commonly used for rockets, and it was also cheaper.

Yet the New Yuan series of rockets were still using traditional aluminum alloy.

Androff, marked with the label of an old Russia Tatar, had a solid base of knowledge and also mastered the essence of Russia’s way of doing business. During this time, he got along very well with Lin Ju. He explained:

"Stainless steel indeed has the advantage of being cheap, but that cost doesn’t mean much to us. Aluminum alloy is lighter, and the next step for the research institute will be to make certain improvements to the existing rocket structure, further simplifying the design."

"Can the shell be simplified even more?"

"Eliminate the design of the fuel tank, combine the shell with the fuel tank into one, and use a common bulkhead tank, which means the spaces that store the oxidizer and fuel share one bottom, thereby simplifying the shell to the utmost and greatly increasing the reliability of recovery while continuing to lower costs.

The development of the technology is also included in H1, and as long as it’s reused, the added cost can be negligible."

"That’s a game changer!" Lin Ju imagined it for a moment: the shell itself is a fuel tank, divided in the middle to separately store fuel and oxidizer, truly achieving extreme simplification.

No wonder it’s a groundbreaking spacecraft—there are too many treasures to be unearthed from H1.

While chatting, the second-hand New Yuan 1B had already ignited and launched, starting its second journey to the sky.

The live broadcast was just as popular, even more so, but this time everyone was simply expecting the rocket to successfully recover.

Compared with the turbulent and stumbling first flight, the recovery this time seemed so routine. The rocket hardly adjusted its course from descent to landing and encountered no surprises.

Moreover, the speed of landing was faster than the first time, almost like free-fall, until it suddenly increased thrust very close to the ground, rapidly reducing the speed to zero, while at the same time deploying the landing legs to stand steadily in the middle of the landing field. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Lackluster.JPG

Guo Shen nodded as he watched the status display screen in the launch room:

"We saved 40% of the fuel compared to last time. Now, that’s the ideal level."

Meanwhile, outside the launch site, Lin Ju was also very satisfied, applauding continuously.

It was only the second recovery, but it seemed to give him the feeling that rocket recovery was as easy as eating and drinking, which was exactly the prelude to the democratization of space travel.

"Lin, Lin!"

"Ah, Wan! Leader, long time no see."

Lin Ju heard someone calling him, and to his surprise, it was Wan and the town leader.

After a round of warm greetings and mutual business flattery, Lin Ju learned that the two had come specifically to see him.

Well, they weren’t here to press him for a loan repayment. Although Lin had repaid last month, he immediately took out a joint loan of 50 million from the credit cooperative and the provincial bank, with a repayment period of three years.

This was also considered a way of strengthening local ties.

The two of them came here for two reasons: one, to see the rocket launch, and two, to notify Lin Ju: a VIP guest would be visiting New Yuan, and there was a high likelihood they would be stopping by New Yuan Aeronautics.

Moreover, it was a guest of very high standing, the kind that wears a white cloth on their head.

Lin Ju was momentarily stunned, then he roughly guessed the reason:

It was October, coinciding with this year’s airshow. The Saudis were definitely coming to shop, shop, shop, stuffing missiles and tanks into their home by the handful.

It was probably on a whim to see the miracle-making New Yuan Company that they had submitted a visit request.

If it were any other foreigner, Lin Ju would have given a cold shoulder, but if it were the Saudis, from countries with poor mountains and rivers and nothing but dark oil at home, that was a different discussion altogether.

The Saudis were too good at making money, although they had no aerospace strength whatsoever. In his previous life, they had continuously sent people to the International Space Station by leveraging their money power, and not a few of them at that.

If he could hoodwink them into getting involved, funding issues would be no issue at all.

"Leader, do you know who’s leading the delegation this time?"

"Not very clear, seems to be some Crown Prince Hamand. The schedule is set for 10 days from now; do you think you can be ready?"

"We can, we’re more than capable!"

Lin Ju didn’t yet know who this Crown Prince Hamand really was—after all, there were plenty of princes in the big households—but the one who could lead a team to China to shop must be no ordinary prince.

Plus, which of these princes isn’t worth billions of US dollars as a baseline? And with a continuous money stream from oil, spending tens of millions on a custom car is nothing to them.

Lin Ju and Androff exchanged looks, both of their eyes sparkled with the shape of ’$’.

...

That evening, Lin Ju and Androff looked up information about this Crown Prince Hamand online, emitting envious sighs continuously.

Thirty years old, net worth... 70 billion USD, owns just luxury cars valued over 1 billion, more than 20 private jets, and on top of that, is a handsome, poetry-writing artistic guy, talented and wealthy, a paragon of virtue and riches.

At that moment, Lin "Lemon Essence" Ju and Androff "Envious" Ski deeply understood what it meant when they say: "When God closes a door, He demolishes a wall to give you a two-thousand square meter seaside villa with a swimming pool and a helipad."

This wasn’t just a walking tall, rich, and handsome figure; this was a walking money-printing machine!

"An, you catch my drift, right!"

Lin Ju firmly gripped Androff’s shoulder, his teeth gritted as he stared at Crown Prince Hamand’s handsome personal photo.

Androff nodded fiercely, his face contorted:

"Boss, I know all the ins and outs of how Rusia Space Agency lures people in with tall promises. I’ll make sure Crown Prince Hamand comes with high hopes and leaves lighter! If he doesn’t lose a couple of pounds, it would be a disservice to this son of a gun chosen by fate!"

That very night, Lin Ju called an emergency meeting with all the executives and engineers, specifically to brief them on the details regarding Crown Prince Hamand.

More than thirty people were silent for a long time, then an indefinable air of determination began to emanate from them all.

Especially the elites poached from the Sixth Institute and state-owned enterprises, a memory from their forebears revived, and their once red-hot hearts slowly began to darken.

Thirty years earlier, the Saudis’ boldness to spend 100 million US dollars for a missile that cost 10 million RMB almost left people breathless. Today, the people of New Yuan Aeronautics once more felt that familiar power.

Guo Shen stood up, his eyes red like a beast ready to devour someone, looked around, and immediately gave orders:

"Starting tomorrow, all workshops over to three shifts. Get the H1 prototype built first!"