Chapter 923: Space Elevator Completed
Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_
As long as the weather was good enough, even in New Guinea hundreds of kilometers away, the giant tower piercing the sky was visible.
No one knew what it was; it was like it appeared overnight, “grew” to the Earth’s center continuously day till night, and finally landed on the horizon.
From afar, it looked like a single strand of hair. Only high-powered telescopes could make out the surface of the tower.On the southernmost island of Xin, Ange Island, it was possible to catch a glimpse of this magnificent tower even with the naked eye. It was precisely because of this that many aerospace and alien enthusiasts came to Xin from all around the world to see this incredible spectacle.
Yes, only the term spectacle could describe this magnificent project that connected heaven and Earth.
“Dad! What is that?” Standing on a beach on Ange Island, a little boy pointed to the distant white line connecting the heavens.
“It’s an elevator.” Looking at the space elevator in the distance, the man in beach trunks showed a fascinated expression.
“An elevator? Where does this elevator go?” The little boy looked at his father and asked in confusion.
“Space.” The man tousled the boy’s hair. “When daddy was a kid, going to space required very, very strong rockets. The rockets needed to be ignited from the back. Now, using an elevator is enough.”
“Space? Will I have a chance to go?” The boy’s eyes flashed with hope as he looked at his father.“Of course. Not only space, but you will be able to go to places even further.” The man smiled and looked at the clouds pierced by the space elevator. “My child, you’re lucky you live in good times.”
The sea near the space elevator was assigned as a military restricted area by Celestial Trade. The frigate modified with a Type-50J electromagnetic pulse cannon cruised the area, and with the help of the maritime police, it drove away ships entering the area. The offshore platforms equipped with laser air defense systems were deployed in the sea two kilometers away from the space elevator to prevent missiles or aircraft that might pose a threat.
Under the narrow space elevator was a connected cuboid several kilometers long and wide that floated above the sea.
As the base station for the space elevator, it could dock freighters with displacements of up to 10,000 tons. The runway next to it also allowed civilian airliners to land.
The space elevator completed currently had six passenger-transport channels on the inside and six freight lanes on the outside. A vertical upwards “carriage” was placed in the passenger passage, and a single “carriage” carried 60-80 passengers, using the principle of electromagnetic drive. The entire carriage was like a projectile of an electromagnetic gun, accelerated on a powered rail.
As for the freight passage, the principle was similar to a passenger passage, but because the cargo was being transported, the acceleration of the carriage was more than the 10G force limit, and the vertical speed also approached the first cosmic velocity.
Each freight car could push 50 tons of cargo to the synchronous orbit, equivalent to two Long March 5 rockets. As for the cost of transportation per ton of cargo, it was exponentially lower than SpaceX’s Falcon series rockets.
The nations around the world seemed to know about this “giant tower” that connected outer space with Earth, but they all kept silent. They believed that even if they didn’t say anything, Future Group would soon disclose this secret. They were waiting for Future Group to speak first then based on the chips in their hands, they would put forward their own proposals.
Compared to the silence of world governments, the Internet exploded.
Space elevator!
This concept that originally existed only in fantasy literature and films actually became a reality through the hands of Future Group?!
What completely ignited public frenzy was a video uploaded by a newly registered user to YouTube. In the video footage, Celestial Trade employees operated engineering vehicles, loaded unknown cargo into the containers of the space elevator, and sent them to space.
The video was clear and edited. This anonymous user seemed likely one of the internal personnel of Celestial Trade, or the video was released under Celestial Trade’s guidance.
Regardless of the purpose of this video, it caused a stir. Not to mention on other network platforms, but just in the comments section, netizens used their own language to express their shock.
“My God, I can witness humanity’s leap to the Interstellar Era in my lifetime!”
“That’s far-fetched! It’s just an elevator. Without warp engines being built, would you dare to call it the Interstellar Era?”
“It’s just an elevator? Stop talking. Take some medicine first.”
“I heard Nippon’s Daelim Construction Company plans to start construction of a space elevator in 2050. I wonder what they think now?”
Not only did netizens discuss spontaneously, but major newspapers, television, and online media also reported on the century project of Future Group.
“The breakthrough in graphene technology has foreshadowed the completion of today’s space elevator. The height of 36,000 kilometers will surpass any building in the world and will exceed any building in the next 50 years. We should reflect on this when we try to build taller buildings and make buildings more expensive to the point where most people cannot afford them. A small country far away in the Pacific Ocean has already reached out to a place we could only hope to reach.” BBC News.
“The contradiction of the rocket is that most of the rocket’s fuel is consumed to transport the fuel itself. The space elevator can rely on electricity to deliver the things we need to push to the geosynchronous orbit. Peter, President of the International Space Elevator Association, believes that space elevators are an amazing technology that allow us to open the door to the solar system. We all thought he was being eccentric years ago, but now I’m afraid no one will doubt this point.” Colombia Radio.
“… behind this great project is a very creative entrepreneur. His contribution to modern civilization far outweighs the contributions of Jobs and Gates because he has had a staggering amount of involvement in many fields. This great entrepreneur was born in the Jiangnan area of our country, in a small county called Hucheng. What kind of living environment gave birth to such a genius? Let us walk into this small county and explore the school he went to…” People’s Daily.
Flipping through the newspaper in his hands, Jiang Chen suddenly started chuckling.
Ayesha walked toward him with coffee and gently placed a mug on the table. She gazed at the chuckling Jiang Chen with confusion.
“Did something good happen?”
“Somewhat.” Jiang Chen shook his head and tossed the newspaper aside.
As an official media outlet, People’s Daily also reflected the Hua government to a certain extent. Over the past few days, People’s Daily had been doing its utmost to create an image as “an outstanding young man” who stepped out from Hua to the world and glorified the country. Although he was happy to see someone flattering him, he had to think about the deeper meaning behind it.
“I hope in a week at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, they’ll be on our side.” Jiang Chen lifted his coffee and took a sip.
There was no doubt that the space elevator would certainly be the focus of this UN summit. What actions the Big Five would make on this issue was also a question Future Group had to pay attention to.
If nothing else, Hua and Russia should send people to contact him in private. The UA should send people too. Britain, which separated from Europe, should also be in the play. As for the European Union, it might be more reserved. After all, the relationship between Future Group and the European Union remained in a delicate situation.
Regardless of the decision of the UN at the summit, Celestial Trade’s plan wouldn’t change.
The second day after the end of the summit, the space elevator would officially be open for traffic from the offshore platform to the orbital space station, Celestial City.
And they planned to send people, not cargo.
