Live Stream 1980: Netizens Teach Me How to Make a Rocket by Hand

Chief Engineer Chen paused, didn't reply, and gestured for him to continue.

Lin Xi looked at the two veteran experts:

"The current ITU rules are very simple."

"Whoever submits the documents and orbital parameters first will have priority to use this frequency band."

"The application cost is extremely low, and there are even no frequency band fees."

"All we need to do is launch the satellite within a few years to secure a spot."

As he spoke, his fingertip touched a string of numbers on the form.

"Space is now a vast, uncharted mine."

"Those European and American companies across the ocean haven't really considered low-orbit communication as a big business yet."

"If we don't fill out the forms now, they'll realize it in a few years and fill all the slots, leaving us with no way out."

Sun Weide's expression gradually turned serious.

Lin Xi then marked the L-band and S-band.

"Especially these two bands."

"It has good penetrating ability of the ionosphere and strong resistance to rain fading."

"In the future, whether it's developing global mobile communications or high-precision satellite navigation systems..."

"These two golden price ranges are absolutely crucial."

"This isn't about adding a few more sheets of paper."

Lin Xi looked up and said, word by word:

"This is like planting future road signs in advance."

Sun Weide understood and gasped:

"You mean, even if we don't have the capability to launch large satellites right now, we still need to secure all the good locations and frequencies?"

"Yes, it's about acquiring land."

Lin Xi nodded.

"Let's use these four little guys to reserve the spot first."

The live stream chat instantly filled the screen with comments.

Holy crap, the streamer is exploiting a loophole in the ITU rules!

[This isn't a loophole; the ITU rules in the 80s were just that outrageous! Tonga, a Pacific island nation, managed to grab a bunch of equatorial orbital slots with just a few forms, and later subleased them to other countries, making a fortune!]

[L-band and S-band—those are the core bands for GPS and BeiDou! Lin Shen has paved the way for BeiDou ahead of time!]

[Rogue rules require rogue tactics. As long as I fill out the forms fast enough, the US will have to avoid me even when it's flying!]

Chief Engineer Chen put down his teacup.

He looked at the stack of application forms, and his eyes gradually lit up.

The older generation of aerospace workers usually try to stretch every penny to its limit.

But this kind of opportunity to seize international strategic resources with almost no cost is exactly what they want.

Chief Engineer Chen was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed.

"Good lad."

"This deal is worthwhile."

He made the decision on the spot.

"Old Sun, you'll personally lead the team to handle the paperwork later."

"Send these orders to Geneva this afternoon as an express shipment!"

Having secured the frequency band resources, Chief Engineer Chen pulled out a roll of blueprints from the metal cabinet behind him and spread them out on the long table.

That was the initial design blueprint for a "low-Earth orbit short message satellite".

Chief Engineer Chen pointed to the structure on the blueprints.

"As per your previous request, these four stars should have a minimalist design."

"Their working orbits are set at low altitudes of 500 to 800 kilometers above the ground."

"Because the distance is forty to fifty times closer than that of a geostationary satellite, the signal attenuation is minimal."

Sun Weide added the parameters from the side:

"A large umbrella-shaped antenna is not needed."

"A few simple UHF whip antennas are enough to cover the ground."

"Moreover, this short message communication does not transmit sound or images, but only a few dozen bytes of plain text location and brief message."

Chief Engineer Chen slid his finger down the route map:

"Therefore, a transmitter power of thirty watts is sufficient."

"This means that we don't need to develop extremely complex and expensive deployable solar panels."

"As long as rigid solar panels are attached to the metal shell of the satellite, there will be no problem with power supply."

The satellite on the drawing looks like a square iron box.

Several antennas stood around the perimeter.

Rough, simple, and even a bit rustic.

But Lin Xi looked very carefully, quickly calculating the weight parameters on the drawing in his mind.

A moment later, he raised his head and said something that made the blood pressure of the senior experts present rise.

"Chief Engineer Chen, can it be made even simpler?"

Lin Xi took the pencil.

At the bottom of the drawing, a large cross was drawn directly on the fuel storage ring and a set of miniature thrusters.

"Remove the fuel tanks for orbit keeping, as well as most of the attitude control engines."

There was a moment of silence in the conference room.

Chief Engineer Chen was stunned, then his eyes widened:

"Nonsense!"

"There's residual atmospheric drag and solar wind disturbance in space!"

"How does a satellite maintain its orbital altitude without fuel and attitude control?"

"With its orbital altitude constantly decreasing, it will burn up in the atmosphere within a few years!"

The old expert's voice suddenly rose in volume.

In the minds of their generation of aerospace workers, building satellites is like creating works of art.

We must use the best materials, design double redundancy, and maximize lifespan.

Once a satellite is launched, everyone hopes it can work steadily for eight to ten years.

Why would anyone intentionally shorten the lifespan of a satellite?

Lin Xi put down her pencil, her gaze utterly calm.

"The point is to let it fall and burn."

Sun Weide opened his mouth, his first thought still being to calculate the orbital lifespan.

Chief Engineer Chen didn't rush to scold anyone; his gaze had already fallen on the fuel ring that had been drawn off.

Lin Xi pointed to the blueprints and spoke slowly.

"Chief Designer Chen, we can no longer use the same mindset of creating a unique product as when building Dongfanghong-2 to build this batch of low-orbit communication satellites."

"With the addition of fuel tanks, piping, and complex attitude control valves, the weight increases by at least thirty kilograms."

"Costs have doubled."

"The number of potential failure points has also doubled."

Lin Xi tapped the table and presented a completely new logic for commercial spaceflight:

"What we are building now is not an ancestor to be worshipped."

"It's a consumable."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of several senior experts in the conference room changed.

Lin Xi did not stop.

"We can take it all the way to the sky; we don't need it to live for ten years."

"As long as you work stably for three years, the business service fees you receive will be enough to break even."

"If we live to be five years old, we'll have hit the jackpot."

"When its lifespan ends, it will naturally fall into the atmosphere and burn up, making room for new satellites to follow."

"Not even space debris will be generated."

Lin Xi looked at the two stunned old men and spoke with unwavering conviction:

"It's cheap, lightweight, and has a simple structure."

"If something goes wrong, or if it's about to fall, we'll just slip two satellites into the corner of the fairing when the Red Star 2 rocket launches its next commercial satellite."

"Like hitchhiking, we fill up the gap."

No maintenance required.

"Replace it if it's broken, throw it away after use."

These words struck like a hammer blow against Chief Engineer Chen and Sun Weide's preconceived notions.

Chief Engineer Chen stared at the fuel ring that had been drawn out, without moving for a long time.

That's not just a matter of missing a few parts.

That completely overturned their old practices of building satellites over the past few decades.

No fuel is needed.

I don't pursue a ten-year lifespan.

Mass-producing satellites like screws.

This idea, when applied to the aerospace industry in 1985, sounded like a fantasy.

But when you do the math, it actually makes sense.

The viewers in the live stream were going crazy.

[Holy crap! Lin Shen has revealed the underlying logic of Starlink ahead of schedule!]

[Traditional aerospace: I want to build family heirlooms. Lin Shen: No, we'll build consumables.]

This is true industrialized aerospace! Driving costs to the extreme and winning through scale!

Satellites aren't ancestors, they're just oxen and horses; they finish their work and then go home!