"What! His grandpa’s, that fast!"

Learning that the Sixth Institute had already silently transported all the engines to Bingzhou, the Eighth Institute freaked out.

My rocket body is still being perfected in its design, and they’ve got the improved engine sorted out already?

When He Tang called for confirmation, he was even mocked by the Sixth Institute: New Yuan-1 produced a reusable version in two months, but you guys are already four months in, why so slow?

It seems the Eighth Institute may have been dazzled by the glitzy world of Modu City and lost their conviction for hard work?

He Tang clenched his teeth in frustration but was powerless; he hadn’t expected the YF100K from the Sixth Institute to be so quick, could they have bought it from New Yuan again?

Of course, this was just talk. If it were true, the leadership of the Sixth Institute would have to be thoroughly scrubbed from top to bottom.

Then he went to the rocket workshop and saw a white cylindrical section lying there.

This was the first stage of the CZ-6 rocket; the entire rocket’s first stage had completed its sample joining practice last year, with only the engines and body design of the upper stages remaining.

Even according to the original timeline, the first CZ-6 would have to leave the factory in July of this year. The progress was already very advanced, but it was slightly delayed due to the sudden request for reusability improvements.

But actually, the difficulties of rocket reusability are mainly in the control part; the majority of rockets can be used several times over, provided their bodies and engines don’t fail.

After confirming with the person in charge of the workshop, He Tang knew that if they worked overtime on CZ-6’s body, they could produce two units per month, and the current inventory of parts could be turned into another unit within ten days.

So he made up his mind and announced:

"Immediately arrange for the installation of the rocket’s recovery support legs, controllable grid fins, and Core Stage One. Mid-April, transport it to the Bingzhou launch site. The second and third stages will be replaced by dummy masses. Before May, CZ-6R will carry out a recovery experiment!

Our Modu City team, are we about to lose to the Sixth Institute and private space companies?"

That very night, SpaceX’s March Falcon 9 crashed due to excessive landing speed.

Ma Yilong tweeted: "We are very close to success, this launch issue was due to a sensor malfunction causing an incorrect judgement by the rocket. The April Falcon 9 will have an additional check process."

New Yuan’s system engineers also reviewed the launch summary and agreed with Ma’s statement.

Meanwhile, Guo Shen raised the issue to Lin Ju about New Yuan establishing its own parts supply system standards.

The rockets launched by New Yuan have been small, requiring few sensors and electrical components, most of which could be satisfied with off-the-shelf purchases.

Aerospace is a cutting-edge field, but not all rocket technology has to be the best. Many civilian products meet high standards and offer customization.

For New Yuan Aeronautics, it was easy to purchase parts from the outside when the rockets were small and the launch missions few, but things are different now.

New Yuan-2 and -3, H1, H2, they’re all big and complicated with many components and much need for customization.

Even the B-level Base couldn’t cover everything in-house; most of the lesser components are still outsourced, which is faster and lightens their own workload.

But Guo doesn’t plan to operate like ordinary factories where you make whatever part they need based on standards and, once inspected and found compliant, consider the deal done.

Many of New Yuan’s technologies don’t come from this world, but from their own set of technical standards. To reduce costs and maintain stable quality, they must sign agreements with each supplier to produce and inspect according to New Yuan’s standards, creating their own supply chain system.

Lin Ju approves, but his thoughts are on another matter: Does expanding the aerospace supply chain mean bringing more people closer to aerospace, strengthening the connection with space, and being able to complete system tasks?

Asking the system yields an affirmative response, and the system provides the criteria for determining whether the spacecraft is manufactured by New Yuan, incorporating details like quantity and criticality ratios, allowing Lin Ju to clearly delineate which key components to produce in-house and which to outsource.

Taking advantage of the residual warmth of the convention, New Yuan convened with its cooperating electromechanical product and fuel suppliers, requesting the promotion of their own standards.

Unexpectedly for Lin Ju, these companies almost unanimously and readily accepted, even agreeing to receive guidance and upgrades from New Yuan’s engineers.

The lack of resistance stemmed from the fact that most domestic companies’ own standards were in disarray; being integrated into the aerospace industry system was a coveted opportunity.

These suppliers even invited Lin Ju to invest, and after some back-and-forth, he didn’t refuse.

In the end, New Yuan dispensed engineers to the suppliers for equipment upgrades and modifications, at the cost of New Yuan’s money, but in return for shares.

The suppliers were not averse, making announcements as soon as possible: "We are also an aerospace enterprise; our standards and products are better than our peers, and with New Yuan’s stake, we are qualified to supply national aerospace projects."

The suppliers capitulated; their stock prices rose; their fame +1; and Lin Ju, by taking stake, even managed to earn back the money spent promoting the standards...

Is this what they call ’the rich get richer’?

Having inadvertently played the role of a capital Big Shot, Lin Ju shifted his focus to the system tasks.

He intended to use his abilities to expand the public’s knowledge and interest in aeronautics and astronautics.

In March, rumors spread during the opening season at Southern Machinery Institute that New Yuan Aerospace Power would join several schools to offer aerospace-related majors and cultivate talent.

Subsequently, the school administration clarified: This is not a rumor. The school is organizing faculty to establish an Aerospace Institute. Students from the mechanical engineering, physics, and electronic engineering departments can apply to transfer to the Aerospace Institute next semester;

Confirmed majors now include aerodynamics and aircraft design, aerospace dynamics, space high-energy physics, astronautics, with internships taking place at New Yuan Aerospace Power Company, and early employment contracts possible.

Just the day before yesterday, Lin Ju reached out to several universities in Sichuan, expressing the hope to collaborate with them to add aerospace-related majors and expand aerospace recruitment, guiding more people toward the aerospace industry.

While others were still considering, Southern Machinery Institute was the first to express: Stop, no need to discuss or establish a single major, I will directly draw from the best faculty from several departments to establish an Aerospace Institute - it will be our ace institute from now on!

Southern Machinery Institute’s series of space projects greatly accelerated their progression to a key-point university. They were set to be officially renamed Southern Industrial University by 2016. Now even the name they applied with has changed—call it Southern Aeronautical and Astronautical University.

Such sycophantic behavior was scorned by other universities, but they too quickly conveyed to Lin Ju: Although we can’t form an institute, our technical strength is stronger, and setting up one or two majors is no problem at all!

Holding vast wealth and technology, Lin Ju was unstoppable and truly felt the power to command the wind and summon the rain.