Learning that Abe Aerospace Agency was going to reach a 10 billion US Dollar space cooperation deal with China, NACA lost it, and the Russia Space Agency lost it too.

Abe has always been known as a super cash cow, with wool ready to be sheared like chive blades on steroids: harvest after harvest.

The launch segments of the ISS International Space Station were handled by America and Russia, which subsequently opened up to all countries except China.

Abe was naturally included, having paid a lot to send its astronauts to Russia for training, and then for a stroll around the ISS Space Station.

Any scientific research purposes were non-existent; Abe was well aware it wasn’t in the cards for them.

But a cash cow also needs aspirations, and floating 300 kilometers above the ground certainly was something to boost Abe’s morale.

However, things didn’t go as hoped. Ever since the "Dawn" multi-functional cargo ship, as the first component, entered space in 1998, the collaboration of 16 countries formally commenced.

Since then, more countries joined, bringing numerous scientific projects, with personnel needing frequent travel back and forth.

Moreover, as time passed, the early segments of the ISS began aging, leaking, gradually becoming unsuitable for scientific research or even to aid others—remaining only as structural parts of the space station.

Maintaining the space station, conducting scientific research, and launching and docking missions had already become complicated within multi-national coordination, thus sending Abe’s astronauts with no exceptional skills wasn’t welcomed.

In other words, Abe was seen as a big sucker, paying money and still having to face others’ moods, so it started to feel like it was asking for trouble.

So when Lin Ju beckoned, bundles of US Dollars were stuffed over.

Of course, part of the reason was also New Yuan’s genuinely affordable quotes, which made Abe feel that failure wouldn’t result in a significant loss.

Although Lin Ju had already stated various limitations in the contract beforehand: for example, the spacecraft could only be in Abe during missions and needed strict supervision, to be returned to New Yuan for maintenance during non-mission periods;

The few space station modules had no real scientific functions, basically just space rooms, which allowed for a 500 million US Dollar launch quote. Otherwise, just the scientific equipment alone would probably cost more than 500 million. Everyone knew that the module New Yuan designed for them even had separate bedrooms and bathrooms—who else would dare to waste such precious space on a spacecraft;

Even the satellite launch discounts for Abe University were limited by weight, among other restrictions.

But it was precisely for these reasons that the Crown Prince and the old King felt this was genuinely doing business, not just playing with Abe as a sucker.

Therefore, Aleth’s glance towards NACA and the Russian Space Agency became cold, even blatantly ignoring them.

NACA, having met with a refusal, raged impotently; they could’ve pulled some tricks if it were just New Yuan, but with China’s National Space Administration entering the field, they could only give up reluctantly. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The ultimate outcome was a former NACA official claiming: Private spaceflight is high-risk and technologically unreliable. He hoped that all parties involved would look carefully before they leap and that professional matters should still be left to the responsible, well-established space agencies.

But that was about it, for NACA was indeed very busy, with the ISS Space Station, Mars, deep space exploration to Jupiter, and the Artemis program to return to the Moon, and truly had no energy to bother with Abe.

But losing a convenient backup for no reason was indeed quite frustrating.

Meanwhile, Ma was extremely excited, firing off more than a dozen tweets in succession.

Lin Ju had snagged a 10 billion US Dollar deal, a big business that his Sky Fork hadn’t managed to land in many years.

And he had rockets too, Falcon 9 and Heavy Falcon were stronger than any rocket New Yuan had in service, so why wasn’t anyone throwing him a cool 10 billion?

Regardless of the attitude of investors and the board, Ma rashly tweeted:

SpaceX congratulates XAP on its collaborative achievement and considers it an outstanding progress in private spaceflight, with a good deal of business flattery.

Then he hesitantly stated, "I, Ma Yilong, am not worse than Lin Ju. Sky Fork is way cooler than New Yuan’s tractor factory" (after Lin Ju’s rise to fame became known on the internet, New Yuan Aeronautics was mockingly referred to as a "tractor factory"). Whatever he can do, we can do too.

Although SpaceX doesn’t have a space shuttle, we have the Starship, which can land on the Moon and Mars! What’s so great about just going to space?

The same goes for space stations; if the Dragon Spaceship can design and build space stations, what’s the difficulty? Sky Fork can not only build space stations, but also space hotels—we can even give you a cabin to use as a restaurant if you want.

Sky Fork can also establish launch bases outside the America mainland, and unlike New Yuan’s restricted use, you can put them wherever you please; as long as you pay, Sky Fork will sell you anything!

Ma was truly in a rush, for New Yuan was progressing at a visibly fast pace, seemingly poised to overtake the competition, while also getting such significant financial support.

Even though the $8 billion was less than the planned budget, Ma, thinking in the American way, found it completely normal.

What if a project’s budget is too high and it might not get approved?

A: Streamline the project structure, carefully analyze the market, and try to reduce costs as much as possible while meeting the requirements, before submitting it for review.

B: Bid with a super low budget to get the project approved and then keep asking the investors for more money. If they don’t add, the project will stall, resulting in a total budget far exceeding the initial projection.

Clearly, Ma immediately recognized that Lin Ju also learned the American entrepreneurs’ unique approach B during his studies in America.

So the next day, Lin Ju saw that Sky Fork released a "99 billion US Dollar Dream Space Power Discount Package," including "Future Spacecraft Base," "Heavy Falcon + Dragon Spaceship (6-person reusable)," "Extra Large 5th Generation Space Station," "5 Dollar Satellite Launch Voucher," and other items—all to be arranged clearly within three years.

And, surprisingly, Ma’s PowerPoint and simulation animations truly are world-class. Neither NACA nor New Yuan can even come close, and just viewing the promotional materials is extremely enticing.

If you could really get all these packages offered by Sky Fork for just $99 billion, it would be an incredible deal reputation-wise, barely trailing behind New Yuan.

But does it really only require $99 billion, and can it truly be done within three years as Ma says?

Lin was highly skeptical about this.

"Hey, by God, my dear brother Lin, why are you sitting here all alone?"

Crown Prince Hamand, holding a can of Tsingtao beer, walked up to Lin Ju, downed half of it in one gulp, and then surreptitiously made sure no one was watching before relaxing.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, SpaceX has also just released new news; they will also sell spacecraft and space stations to others," Lin Ju said, trying not to disclose too much because a tripartite cooperation agreement had already been signed before the evening event began, and the $4.75 billion had already been placed in a special external account with no refunds for reneging.

After checking the content on his phone, Crown Prince Hamand nodded slightly:

"It looks really good. Although it’s not as good as a space shuttle, if it were before, we would indeed be very excited about it. The offerings are very rich. But don’t worry, Lin, I am studying earnestly with Deng now. I have a pilot’s license, and in the future, I intend to personally fly the space shuttle and land at Abe University. There will be countless girls cheering for me!"