Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 292 The Exorbitant Sponsorship Fee

This force is so immense that it cannot be seen or touched, yet it can be truly felt.

Previously, even Apollo Technology astronauts like Lin Ran could only receive training at the astronaut training center in Jiuquan.

Jiuquan is certainly good, but it still lags behind the astronaut training center in Yanjing.

Now that the doors of the Yanjing Astronaut Center are open, it means that all of China's aerospace resources are readily available to Apollo Technology.

In August, Apollo Technologies launched Burn-8 Resurrected twice within the same lunar landing window, carrying fuel tanks to the lunar south pole.

One of the ships successfully completed a soft landing, while the other failed to complete the maneuver and crashed prematurely. Although it also completed a soft landing, the landing area was not its destination.

A two-thirds success rate is already astonishing, but for manned spaceflight, it casts a shadow over the mission execution of Wei Xuhang and Li Cong.

After all, it's not a problem if the fuel tank fails to land in the target area; the problem is if the crew capsule fails to land in the target area, as this would mean they wouldn't have enough fuel to return to Earth.

"Xuhang, can you tell me about your last mission again?" Li Cong asked. They had two experiences of living and training together: one now, and the other before Lin Ran's manned lunar landing, when Li Cong and Li Guang participated in their training as representatives of China's aerospace industry.

Because of these shared experiences, the two have become quite familiar with each other.

Last time, Li Cong was very envious of Wei Xuhang. In his opinion, Wei Xuhang was undoubtedly the luckiest of the lucky. He was rejected by the selection of Chinese astronauts, but ended up becoming an astronaut in a private aerospace organization. This private aerospace organization really had the ability to send astronauts into space.

Within this private space agency, he wasn't originally scheduled to perform the mission, but he somehow outlasted the previous official astronauts.

The benefits that had been waiting in the wings have continued until now, and this time Wei Xuhang is also going to the moon.

What good fortune?

Netizens joked that Wei Xuhang is like the "Old Master Ding" of the aerospace field—his abilities are hard to discern, but his luck is top-notch; he always seems to snag a bargain.

However, now that he himself could go to the moon, Li Cong was not envious or jealous of Wei Xuhang's good luck. On the contrary, he wished that the other party's luck attribute would be maxed out, so that they could go and return smoothly.

"What's there to say? I'll just wait for the professor and doctor to come back in the command bay. There's not much room for me to do anything. I'll be completely under the professor's command in terms of operation. The professor's command will be so precise that he will tell you exactly what to do at what time and what precautions to take. He will give you detailed instructions on everything."

"With the professors around, it's impossible for you to make a mistake unless you deliberately cause trouble," Wei Xuhang explained.

Li Cong asked, "Would you like to go to the moon yourself?"

Wei Xuhang nodded: "Of course I will. I know very well that with the professor's abilities, I will get the opportunity to go to the moon sooner or later. Now the opportunity is right in front of us."

Both men harbored a longing for the moon and a sense of trepidation about the mission.

"I'm already looking forward to what it would feel like to race cars on the moon," Li Cong said.

The fuel tanks on the second launch were divided into storage tanks. The majority of the fuel tanks contained fossil fuels needed for the lunar lander's return, but a small portion contained fuel for the lunar rover.

Because the lunar rover that Li Cong and Wei Xuhang will be riding on the moon is a range-extended vehicle equipped with solar charging panels.

Of course, the extended range here is just a concept. There is no oxygen on the moon, so the technical solution cannot be like the internal combustion engine on Earth, which generates electricity by burning oil.

While it's called a range-extended fuel cell, it's more accurately described as a fuel cell technology that generates electricity by burning hydrogen and oxygen.

The term "range-extended" is used simply to attract more investment.

Anyway, if the sponsors are Li Auto and Wenjie, then my car will be a range-extended electric vehicle. If the sponsors are XPeng and NIO, then my car will be a pure electric vehicle.

The main focus is on flexibility and adaptability, depending entirely on which sponsor is involved.

That's right, this sponsorship is the main source of funding. According to Pony's plan, at least 10 billion yuan should be extracted from domestic new energy vehicle manufacturers.

The manufacturer's name will appear on the lunar rover's logo and emblem.

There are countless new energy vehicles on Earth, but only one company has the opportunity to race on the moon. Rarity makes it valuable.

"This is so romantic! I've only ever seen Americans racing cars on the moon in magazines or videos before. I never thought we'd have this opportunity too," Wei Xuhang said with a longing look.

In 1971, the Apollo 15 astronauts conducted the first lunar rover journey on the moon. They drove a four-wheeled lunar rover for several kilometers across the rugged lunar surface, traversing craters and gravel.

As the lunar rover came to a stop at the edge of Elbow Crater, the mission control center in Houston turned on its television camera, transmitting very clear color images back to Earth.

Television viewers can see astronauts selecting and collecting lunar stone samples.

(This photo was taken during the Apollo 15 lunar surface mission, showing astronaut David Scott returning to the lunar module in the lunar rover and collecting rocks and soil near the Hadley-Appenin landing site.)

They drove for two hours, covering 8 kilometers, before returning to the lunar module.

In January 2019, the name of China's Chang'e-1 lunar rover was revealed. The rover was named Yutu-1 and successfully landed on the far side of the moon at 10:26 a.m. on January 3. The lander and rover then separated and began in-situ exploration and roving exploration.

This time, Wei Xuhang and Li Cong's mission is more specific: they will bring drilling equipment and a spectrometer to search for water ice on the edge of Shackleton Crater.

This is also their most important task on this trip.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please look at this lunar rover that we will be using for our lunar landing mission. You can print your company's logo on the places that have the Apollo Technology logo."

The lunar rover will be showcased throughout the entire process of the astronauts' lunar landing.

As you all know, given Apollo Technology's technological capabilities, we currently land on the moon once a year, but in the future, this will become once a month, or even several times a month. This lunar rover will remain on the moon, available for our astronauts to use.

During each live stream, your company's logo will be showcased to its fullest extent, achieving the best advertising effect.

If it weren't for the pursuit of a fitting advertising effect and our desire to contribute to China's new energy vehicle industry, we wouldn't have limited this bidding process to new energy vehicle companies.

Even if the lunar rover malfunctions, we will transport parts from the moon for replacements, ensuring the rover's lifespan and the brand promotion effect for your company as much as possible.

This investment promotion conference was personally hosted by Pony, so the heads of various new energy vehicle manufacturers were also present.

Pony introduced the specific technical details of Apollo Technologies' lunar rover, including jokes about extended range and pure electric power, which elicited laughter and applause from the executives in the audience.

Everyone was very accommodating.

For them, the display of the Apollo lunar rover is definitely more effective than any number of airport display boards combined.

The lunar rover bears our company logo. For domestically produced new energy vehicles that aim for the high-end market and often cost two or three hundred thousand yuan, what could be a more direct way to reflect the brand's high-end, sophisticated, and classy image?

Obviously not. It's unique in the world.

Li, the CEO of NIO, is usually dressed in a suit and tie in public. He stared at the lunar rover on the PPT and tapped his fingers, thinking: "NIO's brand represents the future. Putting our logo on the lunar rover will definitely ignite the passion of young people."

In his view, this is not just a sponsorship, but an opportunity for NIO to go global.

“Mr. Ma, I have a question,” NIO’s Li said, raising his hand.

Pony politely replied, "Please go ahead."

"Mr. Ma, you just mentioned pure electric and range-extended electric vehicles. Our biggest feature is battery swapping. Is there any way to demonstrate this in your company's lunar rover?"

If not this time, I have a small request: could you give NIO a discount? For example, if we quoted 1 billion, could you give us a 5% discount?

Pony laughed and said, "Battery swapping might be a bit difficult, but if you're willing to pay, it's not impossible for us to build a battery swapping station on the moon. After all, we're a commercial space agency, and as long as there's a price, there's nothing we can't negotiate."

Li from NIO immediately said, "Mr. Ma, how much would it cost to build a battery swapping station on the moon? We are actually considering that."

Pony said, "I'll go back and have my tech colleagues give me a quote, then I'll send it to you via WeChat."

Mr. He, the CEO of XPeng, is named Xiaopeng, which is why the car brand is called Xiaopeng.

Undoubtedly, XPeng is currently facing the most difficult situation among all manufacturers, but that doesn't mean it wants to miss this opportunity. XPeng made the most thorough preparations before coming here.

He raised his hand and asked, "Mr. Ma, because after Apollo 15 landed on the moon, they sent a car to the moon for the first time, and that lunar rover was jointly developed by Boeing and General Motors."

It took them 17 months to complete the delivery.

Lunar rovers can be traced back to the mid-60s, with a prototype already existing by 65.

In 1965, von Braun tested a concept lunar jeep, a vehicle that Lin Ran had also driven in the 60s.

Xiao Peng continued, "What I want to ask is, is it possible in the future for us to build a lunar rover according to Apollo Technology's requirements, and then have Apollo Technology take charge of sending it up? This would better demonstrate the technological strength of our car manufacturers, and the advertising effect might be stronger than simply printing a logo."

Pony nodded and said, "Of course, printing a logo is just one aspect of this collaboration. We will discuss future collaborations with the selected companies later."

If XPeng is selected, he hopes to design and produce the lunar rover himself, which is entirely possible.

If NIO is selected, it would be no problem for CEO Li to build a battery swapping station on the moon.

We can discuss the specific price gradually.

This discussion will only cover the sponsorship costs for this lunar rover.

The meeting room fell silent. The business owners present all knew that this competition would be extremely fierce.

Pony said directly, "Everyone, please briefly explain how your brands align with the aerospace goals, as well as any additional support plans you may have."

The business owners exchanged glances, and a tense competitive atmosphere filled the air.

Mr. Wang, the CEO of BYD, spoke first: "BYD's battery technology has proven its reliability in the global new energy vehicle market. In the future, we can customize high-density batteries for lunar rovers to cope with low-temperature environments."

In addition, we are collaborating with aerospace companies to develop satellite batteries, which are highly relevant to the technological requirements of lunar missions.

Subsequently, each manufacturer elaborated on its own advantages.

NIO's core brand values ​​are innovation and user experience. Its materials research team is exploring lightweight materials that can be used to optimize the structure of lunar rovers.

XPeng's AI algorithms can help lunar rovers avoid obstacles in shadowed areas, reducing the workload for astronauts. They also collaborate with satellite image processing teams, and the technology can be directly applied to lunar terrain analysis.

Ideal energy management technology can ensure that lunar rovers operate efficiently in extreme environments. Their systems have been optimized on Earth for the coordinated operation of batteries and generators, which is crucial for the long endurance of lunar rovers. Although they do not have direct space projects, their technological concepts are highly versatile.

Xiaomi hasn't built its car yet; they've only outlined their concept.

Huawei is excluded because they don't manufacture cars. Wenjie did come, but since it wasn't Yu Chengdong himself, his words lacked confidence.

Pony nodded: "Very good, one last question: How does your brand raise public interest in the moon landing mission?"

“BYD’s global brand recognition can attract widespread attention, and we will promote the lunar mission through advertising and social media.”

“NIO’s user community is very active. We can launch online activities to allow young people to participate in the lunar rover design vote and ignite their passion for space exploration.”

"XPeng will showcase the lunar rover's intelligent technology through tech bloggers and live streaming platforms to attract tech enthusiasts."

"Ideal will use documentaries and offline events to tell the story of how lunar rovers use energy management technology to explore water ice, conveying a pragmatic and innovative philosophy."

Pony said, “Great, everyone can write down your sponsorship fees on the paper we provide and seal it in an envelope.”

We will notify the selected parties within three days.

Three days later, Xiaomi undoubtedly emerged as the ultimate winner with a staggering sponsorship fee of 20 billion yuan.

This was mainly because Apollo Technologies required a 50% upfront payment for the sponsorship fee, with the remaining 50% due after the moon landing.

Among the new energy vehicle manufacturers present, none of us have had a good time in recent years. We have all been losing money every year. Take NIO as an example, with an annual marketing expense of 40 billion yuan, where can we find the money to sponsor Apollo Technology?

Wenjie and Ideal are in relatively good financial condition, but because their target customers are families, it is difficult for them to make the decision to sponsor the moon landing.

Xiaomi urgently needs to rebalance its corporate image following the heated public debate surrounding the Armstrong moon landing special edition.

Coupled with the radical designs of Xiaomi's upcoming SU7 and the Apollo lunar rover, from a brand promotion perspective, it's easy to create a mutually reinforcing resonance effect.

Ultimately, Xiaomi invested heavily in sponsoring the lunar rover project.

"We are pleased to announce that Xiaomi Auto has sponsored Apollo Technology's lunar rover project, which means that Xiaomi Auto's first car is already speeding on the moon before it even hits the ground!"
This symbolizes that our goal is the stars and the sea, and also signifies that our car manufacturing possesses sufficient technological sophistication.

"This is the largest single advertising sponsorship payment I've ever made in all these years, and it's also the most worthwhile one I've ever made!"

"I am very pleased to be able to cooperate with China's top technology companies and provide a small contribution to our lunar base!"

On the day the cooperation agreement was signed, Mr. Lei posted three Weibo posts in a row to celebrate.

(End of this chapter)