The Space Resources Development Forum came to an end, and it also kicked off the capitalist’s interest in the space market. A total of six large-scale external space stations with an area of more than 2,000 acres were leased to developers around the world. All development work had yet to begin, but space tourism and space property already occupied the big screens on Times Square.
Jiang Chen even heard that Yike Group has already sold 2,000 residential properties on Celestial City before even transporting their construction equipment to Ange Island.
Although most of the living space was in the ring part of Celestial City, not everyone enjoyed the idea of living in small units. The wealthy who pursued a certain quality of life didn’t care about the money. They cared more about having the ability to overlook the entire city and to gaze into the starry night.
With nearly more than 5 billion US Dollars in revenue, Yike’s CEO almost fell off his chair and immediately called Jiang Chen to express his gratitude.
It was only the beginning. By the time the 700 acres land were fully developed, the income from various shopping malls wouldn’t be any less than the income of 2,000 residential properties in this district.On the other hand, the “six by four standard” became a buzzword on online search engines.
Six meters in length and four meters in width, the dimensions of the space station interface in Celestial City. If nothing else, the “six by four standard ” proposed by Celestial Trade would become the standard for all space station interfaces in the Interstellar Age and beyond.
The power of habit is astonishing, especially for a civilization. Unless unsolvable defects existed, the standards accepted by everyone were basically impossible to change.
Just like the not-so-perfect USB interface, it dominated the entire Personal Computer era.
With the details of the “six by four standard” being disclosed, many space station design companies were established.
These companies were mainly concentrated in Silicon Valley, most transformed from aerospace companies engaged in rocket or satellite design. These companies specialized in providing space station design solutions and qualification verification to companies interested in establishing their own space stations but didn’t possess the technical expertise to do so. Even SpaceX launched a similar service, and the first project was to help the UA Steel Company design an automated steelmaking space station.
The business forum of Celestial Trade directly gave birth to an industry with a scale of more than 10 billion US Dollars.The aerospace-related majors which were not considered popular prior, but after this forum, it gradually started gaining recognition, and even more related majors, such as space station design, biosphere engineering, spacecraft design, and others, were born.
Coro University undoubtly was on the frontier in the aerospace field.
With a strong reputation, the university was initially established to export talents to Celestial Trade began to be favored by other large enterprises with the completion of the space elevator. Although its international academic crediential was still not first-class, it was already leading in the commercial field.
…
The Lunar colony.
A cargo spacecraft inscribed with the trademark of Celestial Trade steadily landed on the cemented tarmac. The staff member who had been waiting for a long time operated the robotic arm and unloaded the cargo box from the abdomen of the spacecraft. At the same time, more than a dozen people wearing spacesuits walked down from the spacecraft. They were led by a staff member and were walking towards the colony.
It was already the fourth group this month.
After the completion of the space elevator, the transportion to and from the Moon no longer used disposable rockets. Instead, they were replaced by cargo spacecraft capable of vertical liftoff and landing. The original supply mission that occurred every several months now became multiple times in a month.
Another intuitive change was that there were more and more people in the colonies now.
From the first few dozens to the first one hundred, now there were 500 people in the moon colony. In addition to some engineers and scientists, many of them had careers completely irrelevant to colony construction. Some were journalists, musicians, and painters, and some were just ordinary people…
Standing in the colony, Tang Weijie looked at the new colonists from the distance. He did not understand the purpose of bringing so many people here, but he believed that the decision made by Celestial Trade executives would definitely be meaningful. It was just that as the colony administrator, he didn’t understand it.
The dozens of newcomers looked left and right as everything here was so fascinating for them. When they passed a space farm, someone even exclaimed out loud… However, only he could hear his own exclaimation.
Compared to a few months ago, this colony on the surface of the Moon was already taking shape. In addition to mines and space farms, most living areas and work areas were connected by pipes embedded in the ground.
From a distance, it was like a bunker connected by trenches. This design could effectively reduce the threat of meteorites before the breakthrough of shield technology. After all, there was a lack of atmosphere on the Moon, and the pits and holes on the surface showed the frequency of meteorites.
The entrance to the colony was two valves.
Just like the design of most submarine facilities, after crossing the first valve, the vacuum buffer chamber was filled with air, then when the second valve opened, the group continued to move forward. After taking off their space suit and bathing in the locker room, they changed to casual wear with jet holes on key joints.
Then everyone gathered in the square in the middle of the colony.
“Well, newcomers, look this way.” Tang Weijie clapped his hands and signaled for everyone to look at him. “You are the fourth batch this month. First of all, I wish you a happy life on the Moon.” In addition, I have to say, you will miss life on Earth.”
“Take an hour or two every day to go to the gravity room to avoid osteoporosis (1). Obey the colonial discipline as anyone who engage in a brawl will be expelled. Remember to bring your ID card at all times as that is your identification and is used at any given moment. This is all you need to pay attention to. Feel free to ask any questions now.”
When he just finished, someone raised his hand.
“What about our luggage?”
“It will be sent directly to your residence, any more questiones?” Tang Weijie asked.
Seeing no one respond, he paused and said.
“Very good. If you have any questions, you can ask them through the personal terminal. Ask the AI or ask a psychiatrist. Only these two people are free at anytime. Someone will take you to receive your daily necessities and bring you to the living quarter.”
“Before that, let’s check the list first…”
The list check was completed swiftly, and Lu Fan got his ID card.
The soft graphene card felt smooth, like a Future phone, it could be rolled up and worn around his wrist. The card had his name on the front and the words [Power Engineer].
Under the guidance of the instructor, Lu Fan received his daily necessities and a room key. In a room the size of 30 square meters, he saw his suitcase.
But he hadn’t had time to unpack his luggage before he began to reminisce about his life on Earth. As he was standing by the window, his door was knocked on.
“Lu Fan? Power Engineer?” The middle-aged man in a colonial uniform examiend Lu Fan from head-to-toe and talked to him in a questioning voice.
“Yes.” Lu Fan nodded politely and asked, “Is there a problem?”
After receiving a positive answer, the middle-aged man suddenly grinned and patted him on his shoulder.
“Haha, you are finally here! Let me introduce my self, my name is He Biao.”
“The colony is ready to replace the circuit. In order to prevent issues, the power department has been short on people. I just applied to the headquarters to send a power engineer here some time ago. I didn’t expect you to come so quickly! Come! Leave your luggage for now.”
“Wait, replace the circuit? Why are we suddenly changing the circuit?” Lu Fan was confused.
In his impression, this colony was only established less than half a year.
“The colony plans to build two new mines. The power generation of the solar power station can no longer handle the load. The headquarters ordered that we put that equipment into use. The colony will no longer lack electricity, but on the other hand, before the end of the month, we won’t have any free time.”
When he said this, He Biao did not look resentful at all.
Life on the Moon was very boring, not working was more boring than working. To alleviate the loneliness, they could only chat with the psychiatrist, or use a beauty robot manufactured by Future Heavy Industries to vent their desire. After hearing that the power shortage problem could be solved and the colony could start building some entertainment facilities, it was no surprise he was so enthusiastic.
Although the newly arrived Lu Fan did not understand his emotional state, a word caught his attention
“Equipment? What equipment?” Lu Fan asked.
No more power shortages? Before he came, he studied the power consumption of the lunar colony. The electricity consumption of 500 people in the district was even higher than that of a small town of 10,000 on the Earth. Although the surface of the Moon is bright, a day and night is close to four weeks in Earth time. For this reason, Celestial Trade had to invest in building a large number of solar panels, as well as power storage units. Power alone consumed nearly 50 million XND per month.
When He Biao heard Lu Fan’s question, he laughed and looked at him with a smug look.
“Do you know what the Lunar Soil Collection Center produces?”
“Rare earth?” Lu Fan wondered.
“Although it certainly produces that, it also produces something else!” He Biao smiled mysteriously and lowered his voice. “We produce Helium-3, and we have already produced tons of it!”
Lu Fan took a moment to think about it before the expression on his face turned into disbelief and shock.
Helium-3!
Controlled nuclear fusion?!
And it could be used to generate electricity?!
(1) Osteoporosis is a bone disease that occurs when the body loses too much bone, makes too little bone, or both. Astronauts who spend many months on a space mission can lose, on average, 1 to 2 per cent of bone mass each month (Source: NASA)
