"Mukala Aerospace Launch Site and ’Sheila’ Space Station joint construction plan?"

Lin Ju had waited a week, and what he got was Abe’s space plan, now doubled in ambition.

They planned to build the launch site near the port of Mukala at the southernmost tip of Abe, taking advantage of its low latitude and the convenience of sea transportation.

At the same time, they would join forces with three other countries, forming the "Sheila" Space Station with five modules from a total of four countries. They anticipated a lifespan of 10 years in orbit, with a permanent crew of 3-7 people.

The H1-type aerospace plane they purchased had been named "Mecca," inspired by their Mohammed mythology. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The whole project called for completion within three years, with a total investment of 3.5 billion US dollars for the launch site, to be paid over three years at 15, 10, and 10 annual payments, constructed by the New Yuan Astronautics Organization.

"Mecca" paid 50% upfront, which is 750 million US dollars, with the remaining half to be paid upon completion.

The space module project required full payment of 2.5 billion US dollars as soon as it started, with personnel from Abe supervising the progress.

An 8 billion US dollar fund for the joint project, and then Abe started its own series of complementary aerospace factories and university constructions domestically, totaling 10 billion US dollars.

Simultaneously with the start of the collaboration, the first batch of 10 Abe pilots would be selected within two months to be trained in China.

That is to say, as long as Xinyuan took on the order, they would receive 4.75 billion US dollars, about 34 billion RMB this year, with a total plan worth about 57 billion RMB over three years.

Currently, Lin Ju’s entire C-level base, if all equipment and factory buildings were converted to assets, might be worth around 3 billion, with a cash flow of 200 million. Now, this deal was enough to build another 10 bases.

Now, Abe Prince had arrived at the Capital with their space bureau’s delegation aboard a luxurious private jet, waiting for Lin Ju’s response.

Lin Ju first steadied the other party before pulling in every engineer and executive capable of making decisions.

Abe’s colossal space plan and the budget were pinned to a whiteboard, explicitly converted into RMB.

Apart from the System Engineer and a few executives who knew early, the rest who were just learning of the news were momentarily speechless, nearly dropping their jaws in astonishment.

They knew the company was seeking commercial partnerships and even planned to sell space travel tickets, but they could only have dreamed of a couple of billion at best.

Who knew such a massive surprise would come their way!

"With these 57 billion, what can we do?"

Lin Ju placed his hands crossed on the table, breaking the silence first.

The switch from surprise to contemplation of what they could now achieve sparked everyone’s thoughts into action.

Guo Shen was the first to raise his hand:

"We need to immediately start on a 150-ton, no, a 200-ton class liquid oxygen and kerosene engine for the first stage of a large rocket; engines from 25-ton to above 100-ton class using hydrogen and oxygen need to be put into development too, the high specific impulse is advantageous for upper stages and is more efficient; research into liquid oxygen and methane engines can also be initiated; we need to develop 5 to 10-meter class giant rocket bodies, expanding the reusable technology to rockets with a 10-meter diameter!"

And then... well, that’s enough for now, let me write a report."

Ai Yuanwei, recruited from the sixth institute, followed immediately. The abundant budget had excited his brain and a torrent of ideas emerged:

"Mr. Lin, I suggest we develop hybrid propulsion technology, transitioning aerospace planes to aero-space planes! Plus, nuclear thermal rocket engines and Hall Thrusters, preparing for deep space exploration!"

"I’m in charge of ground launches; we need to establish a global tracking and control center. Deploy about 10 monitoring satellites in geostationary and low Earth orbits, with a total investment within 1.5 billion!"

"With this much funding, we should expand the company size by more than threefold, surpass 1000 personnel, and build our own launch site! New Yuan City has a tributary of the Yangtze River; we also need to purchase ships for rocket transport and recovery!"

"New Yuan No. 3 can start development at the same time, and Xinyuan’s own space station can also proceed..."

"..."

Upon hearing about so much available funding, the researchers instantly went into a frenzy, throwing out various ambitious plans one after another, and each one sounded incredibly enticing.

Lin Ju had originally been worried that he might bite off more than he could chew, but it now seemed that such worries were utterly superfluous.

Even thermonuclear (fission) rocket engines had popped up, which was just too outlandish.

"Stop arguing, each team go back and draw up a plan. Submit a detailed and feasible plan to the R&D department for review, and then hand it in after approval.

Back to Abe’s question, do we feel any pressure with their orders?"

Androff stood up, "New Yuan can expand within a year, and the R&D department is capable of transforming this into actual productive force, with no problem handling these orders!

The only thing to note is the construction of the launch site; we have no experience in that."

"That’s not a problem. We can ask the launch site construction team in Qiongzhou, a launch tower and runway should cost about five or six billion Yuan, more or less."

...

"This is madness, pure madness! Xinyuan Company has gone crazy, not afraid of boasting too far! Even the folks from Abe have lost their minds, how could they believe Lin Ju’s nonsense!

Eight billion US dollars! From the launch of the aerospace project in ’92 to a total of 20 years in ’12, we have only spent 70 billion, and New Yuan’s tiny frame is trying to swallow so much without bursting!"

Tang Weitian sat on the sofa in his office, watching Big Shot rhythmically knocking on the table with an empty teacup, his tone filled with a mix of envy, dissatisfaction, skepticism, and anger.

But his own feelings were much the same: eighty billion US dollars! If that much money were given to the aerospace bureau, he didn’t know how much could be achieved!

He couldn’t help but speak up, "Leader, I actually went to take a look in person, and I’m afraid New Yuan really does have the technical reserves. The aerospace planes are real."

"So what if they’re fake? With eighty billion dollars, even fakes can become real! If the central government gave me 50 billion, I would dare to guarantee a Moon landing within five years, even if we had to pile up the money to reach the Moon!"

Big Shot was still somewhat resentful, venting for a while before finally slumping back into his chair.

After calming down and thinking for a while, he then turned to Tang Weitian:

"A private company and a country launching such a massive collaboration definitely has many shortcomings, especially with the great uncertainty in international cooperation. Go ask if there’s any way we can help; the aerospace bureau can offer protection."

Offer protection? Sounds more like they’re green with envy and want protection money!

Tang Weitian inwardly scoffed but did not dare to say it out loud, and besides, he was envious, too! That was a lot of money, after all.

However, before he had a chance to ask, Lin Ju took the initiative to call.

Knowing it was Lin Ju on the line, Big Shot gave a meaningful glance, and Tang Weitian got the message.

Hence, with Lin unaware, Tang Weitian turned on the speakerphone, and Big Shot eavesdropped on the entire conversation.

After nearly half an hour, Tang Weitian ended the call with "I’ll pass along your message," and hung up.

A smile finally appeared on Big Shot’s face, feigning nonchalance as he spoke:

"So the audacious Lin Ju gets scared too? Seems like he’s looking to work with us but actually wants state endorsement, afraid of unexpected changes, huh!"

Lin Ju had five objectives:

Reach out to the aerospace bureau for help in building launch sites, including Abe’s and New Yuan’s own. Both are relatively small in scope; Abe’s has been drastically downsized and can only be used for the takeoff and landing of aerospace planes, while New Yuan wants to build a new dual-position launch site with a runway in Qiongzhou;

New Yuan, Abe, and the aerospace bureau to jointly train astronauts, which is basically freeloading experience;

Abe’s surrounding environment is complicated, and assistance from the aerospace bureau and official power is needed to clear the hurdles;

New Yuan hopes to participate in China’s future space construction projects;

New Yuan wishes to join the aerospace bureau’s telemetric and control system for rocket monitoring.