Xiaomi Heavy Industry, its first entrepreneurial venture!

Chapter 332 On Track! (Second Update!)

As the countdown reached zero, Salle and his companions excitedly pressed the remote control from the "observation deck."

Almost the instant they pressed the remote control, flames began to shoot out from below the rocket in the distance. The high-temperature flames touched the cooling pool below the launch pad, instantly evaporating the water in the cooling pool.

Snow-white, high-temperature steam gushed out, instantly enveloping the rocket.

A few seconds later, the thrust reached its liftoff limit, and the rocket slowly ascended into the air.

In the first few seconds, the rocket was moving very slowly, but after a few seconds, the rocket, which was slowly rising into the air, suddenly accelerated and flew into the sky at an extremely fast speed.

In less than a few breaths, they disappeared from the viewpoint's sight.

Lin Yi walked to the window, looked up, and looked through the glass at the rocket that was getting smaller and smaller. After only 10 seconds, the rocket disappeared from his sight and could no longer be seen with the naked eye.

Turning his gaze away, he prepared to go to the command center next door to find Han Pengfei and check on the situation at the other two launch centers.

Before he could even take a step, Rashid, waving the remote control, excitedly approached Lin Yi:

"That rocket launched because I pressed the remote control, right?"

"Right!"

"Of course it is, right?"

"It must be, right?"

Lin Yi stopped, unsure how to explain to the landlord's foolish son. Just as he was struggling with this dilemma, Saleh handed the remote control to Rashid:
"No wonder your dad wants you to travel around and broaden your horizons."

"This is just a regular remote control! We're giving it to you so you can feel involved."

"It's a separate system; how could just any remote control connect to it?"

"Silly boy!"

His excited words were interrupted, and Rashid was also a little annoyed. He waved the remote control lightly, shooing Saleh aside: "Can't you just stop undermining me?"

"Do you think I don't know?"

"The question is, would you receive the same treatment elsewhere?"

"That's called emotional value, what do you know!"

After speaking with Saler, he waved the remote control at Lin Yi:
"Can I take this with me?"

"I want to take it back as a souvenir!"

"Of course!" Lin Yi snapped his fingers. "Keep this for now. When I get back, I'll have someone make you a limited edition gold one."

"I'll send it to you then!"

Upon hearing that there was also a gold limited edition, Rashid's eyes lit up immediately. After pondering for a few seconds, he said:
"Give me two more diamonds!"

"Okay!" Lin Yi agreed to Rashid's request, then turned to look at Sale.

"do you want?"

"Want it? Of course I want it!" Salle replied, then quickly returned to his seat, picked up the remote control from the sofa, and stuffed it into his pocket.

"Add more gold to my remote control!"

"I want it to be sparkly!"

Just then, the door to the room was pushed open from the outside, and Han Pengfei walked in. He glanced at everyone present and asked with a smile:

"What do you want that's sparkly?"

While talking, he kept moving and quickly walked up to Lin Yi, handing him a document.

Taking the document, Lin Yi flipped through it while explaining, "Remote control."

“Give them the original remote control they have, and I’ll make them a shiny gold version to keep as a collectible.”

Hearing that there were collectibles, Han Pengfei was delighted and asked with a smile, "Do I have any?"

"Yes, yes, yes, I have them all!" Lin Yi readily agreed, his mind completely focused on the documents in his hands.

The document contains photos sent back from two other launch centers, a total of six photos.

Three photos for each launch center: a photo of the command center during ignition, a photo of the moment of ignition, and a photo of the rocket as it lifts off.

The A4 paper was still a little warm and damp; it had just been printed.

While Lin Yi was looking at the photos, Han Pengfei explained from the side:
"Because all three launch centers need to be kept secret, the video signals between the two sides were not connected. There was only a dedicated email address used to transmit some unimportant information."

"If you want to see the video, I'll prepare it for you over there, remove the confidential parts, and you can take the rest back."

"You can take it back for publicity or make a documentary, it's all fine."

Lin Yi casually handed the photo to Rashid beside him and pointed out the window:
"How is the situation now?"

Han Pengfei raised his left hand and glanced at the time on it:

"When I arrived, the rocket fairing had just separated, about 4 minutes and 27 seconds ago. It's only been 6 minutes now."

"According to the initial design, the second-stage rocket engine will shut down at around 7 minutes and 43 seconds to begin the separation of the satellite and the rocket."

"We can go and check on the separation work now!"

Satellite separation is another challenge in satellite launch.

Many countries launch satellites; the rocket goes into space, and all the procedures are completed.

Unfortunately, something went wrong when the rocket and satellite separated.

Either the satellite gets stuck inside the rocket and refuses to leave, or the separation angle between the satellite and the rocket wasn't adjusted properly, causing the satellite and rocket to become enemies and collide with each other immediately after separation.

At this stage, it all depends on the technology of the ground control station, and even more so on the craftsmanship of installing the satellite.

Lin Yi tilted his head toward Saler and the others: "Let's go! As long as the satellite can separate and enter orbit normally."

"Then the number of global satellite navigation systems will have to become five!"

Han Pengfei led the way, while Lin Yi and Saler followed behind.

Upon entering the command center, the first thing that caught their eye was the large screens at the very front.

On the large screen in the very center, there are more than a dozen signal sources clustered together.

The signal source is flashing a green light, and the screen is flashing accordingly.

After flashing for a few seconds, the green light on the signal source remained on, the screen stopped flashing, and a voice sounded next to Xiao Wenkang:
"Report to Command: All 12 satellites have been successfully powered on, control signals are normal, and the rocket module's signal feedback is normal. Shall we begin separation?"

Xiao Wenkang picked up the walkie-talkie, and his calm voice came through:

"30 seconds to prepare. After 30 seconds, begin separating the satellite."

"Separation sequence: satellites 9 through 12! After separation, activate the rocket module thrusters to propel in the opposite direction, preparing for the second separation!"

As he finished speaking, the screen in the middle switched to two different images.

On the left is a 3D simulation scene, simulating the separation of a rocket capsule in space.

The image on the right is a screenshot from a surveillance camera.

Thirty seconds passed in the blink of an eye. In the three-dimensional simulation scene on the left, the robotic arm that held satellites 9 to 12 lit up with a green light, indicating that it was ready to separate.

"Separate the satellite!"

At a command, the robotic arm of the rocket module released, and almost simultaneously, the satellites activated their thrusters, gently spraying air at the robotic arm to propel them away from the rocket module. This process was repeated several times, resulting in several satellites simultaneously increasing the distance between them and the rocket module.

"Report to command: The satellite has exited the capsule and is maintaining a safe distance. Should we deploy the satellite?"

After these satellites successfully exited the capsule, several more images were displayed on the screens in the middle.

This is the perspective of these new satellites.

After being powered on, the optical lens carried by the satellite is ready to work.

After adjustments by the ground station, all four satellites aimed their optical lenses at the central rocket module.

After a brief hesitation, Xiao Wenkang issued a new order: "Activate the rocket module thrusters to continue separating the satellites, separating satellites 5 through 8."

The operator received instructions to activate the rocket module's thrusters and slowly adjust the distance between the rocket module and the separated satellites.

After increasing the distance, the rocket capsule stopped moving forward, and satellites 5 through 8 were successfully separated.

The operations for satellites 9 through 12 were repeated on satellites 5 through 8.

The satellite's optical lens was adjusted, first locking onto each other, and finally locking onto the rocket capsule.

Under the watchful eyes of eight cameras, the rocket capsule continued to adjust, increasing the distance between itself and the eight satellites in front.

With the experience from the previous two attempts, the third satellite separation was relatively smooth.

When the last four satellites were successfully separated, the signal received by the command center became 12 streams.

The 12 cameras pointed at the rocket capsule, which had already completed its mission, felt like a wanderer about to leave home, desperately looking at his old house, wanting to remember every blade of grass and every tree.

Xiao Wenkang stared at the scene, then turned around and gave the order:

"We'll capture this scene later and have the comrades in the propaganda department put it together into a photo as a souvenir."

After giving the instructions, he picked up the walkie-talkie: "Check the satellite orbit, and at the same time deploy the solar panels and point them toward the sun."

"After the solar panels are adjusted, they will begin self-testing."

"Once the satellite passes its self-test, activate the thrusters and adjust towards the target orbit!"

Xiao Wenkang issued orders methodically, and the people in the command center quickly began their work at their respective posts.

Han Pengfei came to Lin Yi's side and gently patted Lin Yi's shoulder:

"President Lin, don't worry, the blueprints, documents, and related control systems you provided are all perfect."

"It won't go wrong!"

"I..." Lin Yi was speechless. He wanted to question Han Pengfei: Did he show any worry on his face?
But after hearing what Han Pengfei said, he felt that he should show some worry on his face.

Immediately, a hint of worry appeared on his otherwise expressionless face:
"Isn't everyone experiencing this once in a row?"

After comforting Lin Yi, Han Pengfei's gaze fell on the large screen in front of him. Hearing Lin Yi's words, he paused for a moment, then turned back:

"You seem to be implying something?"

"No!" Lin Yi quickly denied, then turned his attention back to what was in front of him.

At this moment, Ji Shuangshuang gently tapped Lin Yi with her hand:
"Can't this thing just be thrown into the air? Why do we need to make so many things?"

Looking into her innocent, big eyes, Lin Yi could only count on his fingers and explain softly:

"You need to set up your phone when you turn it on, and satellites are the same; they also need to be set up."

"Each satellite has its own altitude and its own orbit, just like a train, which we call an orbit."

"After launch, the first step is to power on the satellite using its onboard power supply."

"Then deploy the solar panels and start the entire power system."

"Get the satellite up and running."

"Then, the satellite's altitude and orbit are determined using gyroscopes and other sensors."

"If it does not enter the orbit, the thrusters need to be activated to move towards the target orbit."

"See that? It's the third one from the right, the fourth one from the bottom, as shown on the right screen."

The screen Lin Yi mentioned showed the image from the satellite's built-in optical lens.

The optical lens was kept aimed at the rocket capsule that had recently detached. Using the rocket capsule as a reference, it was clear that the satellite was frantically moving away.

The speed is also getting faster and faster.

In less than a minute, the rocket pod, which was barely visible before, disappeared completely, leaving only three objects in the shot.

To the left is a blue planet, dotted with countless white clouds, making this blue expanse look like a precious gem.

To the right is a dark starry sky, but the starry sky is not completely dark; within this darkness, countless stars of varying brightness are scattered.

Seeing this, Ji Shuangshuang gently tapped Lin Yi's elbow with her hand:
"Could you ask them for this image? I want to use it as wallpaper for my room!"

"I found that none of the pictures I found online are as beautiful as this. Why don't they post more photos of such a gorgeous starry sky?"

"Post more photos, it'll be good for people to know!"

"Because it will increase your workload. If you're in charge of rocket launches, and you post these scenic pictures every day, if you post them well and gain fame, your boss will give you more work. You might also be envied by your colleagues. If you post them poorly and cause public opinion, then you'll lose your job." Lin Yi lowered his voice and explained the reason.

Upon hearing this, Ji Shuangshuang stuck out her tongue, shrank her neck, and whispered:
"Then I'd better not, it wouldn't be good if it caused harm to someone."

"It's nothing!" Lin Yi shook his head gently and said softly again:

"This is our own satellite; asking them to take pictures now is just troubling them."

"We can take the photos ourselves then, from whichever angle we want!"

"Film whichever country you want!"

He had barely finished speaking when Saller poked his head out from the side:
"Is there a story in your Chinese legends that specifically describes your situation?"

"I think it was something like King Wen of Zhou playing with the feudal lords by lighting the beacon fires."

One sentence left Lin Yi speechless.

The story is correct, but the characters are not quite right.

Moreover, the fact that Saller was able to find this story so accurately shows that he has some skills, but only some skills, no third.

Just as he was feeling awkward, a clear voice rang out from ahead:

"Satellite No. 1 has successfully entered orbit!"

Along with this sound, a soft cheer arose.

If the satellite can successfully enter orbit, then this launch is 90% complete, and everything that humans can do has been done.

Next, all you need to do is pass the self-check and set everything up.

Once it forms a network with other satellites, this launch will be considered a great success.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Xiao Wenkang picked up the walkie-talkie:

"Adjust satellite attitude; self-test to begin after adjustment!"

(End of this chapter)