Rebirth of Hong Kong Island, leading the technology war

Chapter 543 Difficulties Encountered on the Eve of Rocket Launch
At this point, Lambert said to Zhang Rui, "Dr. Zhang, I'd like to know where we can go to take a look, for example, whether the core area of ​​this rocket launch facility is open to us? We are very curious about this."

While Lambert was talking to Zhang Rui, Zona carefully observed Zhang Rui's expression, wanting to know what kind of emotions he would show in the face of such a question.
People like them, who work in the news industry and media system for many years, are very good at reading people's expressions and using words to provoke others.

To put it more bluntly, these media professionals are all psychological experts who know how to make their interviewees lose control of their emotions, feel embarrassed, or be at a loss. These are the professional skills of Western journalists.

In comparison, Chinese journalists are all younger.

However, Zona is a host with integrity and doesn't go too far. She is better at observing, researching and collecting information, and making her own analysis. Many of her analyses are comparable to those of professionals in various fields.

According to the information Zona had previously gathered, the Tenglong Island Space Launch Site did indeed exude an air of mystery. There was no information available about many places, and it could not be found outside the area, not even on the dark web.

This shows that the facility's security measures are extremely effective, almost to the point of being airtight.

To Zona's surprise, Zhang Rui's expression was very calm, without any emotional fluctuations. He seemed like an older brother chatting with a neighbor, nonchalant and composed.

At this point, Zhang Rui said, "You can make your requests. Apart from the extremely important data center, there are no restricted areas here, and we will allow you to visit and inspect as much as possible."

Lambert said, "Then we'd like to see the rocket assembly and repair facilities, right? There should be, right?"

Zhang Rui said, "Of course, otherwise the satellite wouldn't be able to fit into the payload bay. Mr. Gavin should understand that."

"Okay, let's go there then."

Zhang Rui nodded, then told everyone to rest for a while before coming back to take them there.

A moment later, Zhang Rui returned.

The group left the reception room.

Zona glanced back at Ahmed, Yarum, and the others; they didn't seem to be planning to go over, probably because they had already been there before.

Zona asked, "Dr. Zhang, could we take some photos or videos as archival material?"

Zhang Rui waved his hand: "That won't do. As you all know, taking photos in such facilities is not allowed."

Zona was slightly disappointed, but it was understandable. They had been to many such aerospace facilities, and indeed, taking photos was not allowed. In fact, they would even take away the camera equipment and mobile phones before entering.

Zona whispered to Lambert, "Mr. Gavin, it seems that this place is quite well-organized, and the management terms are reasonable."

Lambert laughed: "It's just a gimmick. I don't think there's anything interesting inside. It's just a simple assembly workshop with no high-tech features."

The French have always been very confident, especially top aerospace experts like Lambert. They themselves have doubts about China's aerospace capabilities, so they naturally don't think that China has any high-end aerospace facilities.

Lambert added, "Zona, you may not know this, but the high-end instruments and equipment in the aerospace system cannot be bought on the international market. They are not for sale in various countries. Apart from developing and manufacturing them ourselves, there are generally not many options. This is why there are so few countries that can carry out space launches; their capabilities do not allow it."

"If it were a facility owned by the Chinese government, it might be worth seeing, but for private commercial space facilities like this, anyone who has been in contact with them before knows what level they are at—the level is very low."

“Oh? Mr. Lambert, have you been to a similar facility before?”

"Of course, I have visited some space facilities in developing countries, which are very rudimentary and not worth mentioning."

Zona said, "Then you think this place should be no exception."

"Of course, there is no exception here. China is a developing country, and developing space exploration is a luxury for them."

Zona smiled and said, "Then we'll find out what's going on in a little while. We'll ask Mr. Lambert to explain it to us properly so that more people on Earth can know the truth about this place, which is not as perfect as some people have claimed."

"Isn't that why I came here?"

The two walked and talked, passing through a long corridor, and came to a door.

Lambert looked surprised: "Oh, this door is very sturdy, it looks like it has a high level of security."

Zona nodded: "That's true."

"But superficial work is meaningless; the key is to see what's actually inside."

Zhang Rui swiped his access card and then pressed his fingerprint.

With a "whoosh," the door opened.

Zona observed carefully; the door was indeed very thick and heavy, and the security measures were indeed very thorough, with double protection. Logically speaking, there should be something very important inside.

When the FBC television team and Lambert's group walked in, they were utterly astonished.

This is the rocket assembly and maintenance facility.

"It's so high up here, and there's such a big space!" Zona exclaimed.

Lambert's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets: "Wow, incredible! I never imagined such a massive project could be done here."

"So, have you changed your previous judgment and think there might be some amazing things and technology here?"

"No, no, no, not at all. Large-scale engineering is a specialty of the Chinese; they excel at that. But when it comes to technology... they're completely out of the loop. High-end technology isn't their area of ​​expertise."

At that moment, Zona pointed to the center of the huge space and said, "Look, that's a rocket!"

Lambert had also discovered that in the middle of the factory was a huge stabilizing frame with a rocket standing on it, which looked to be at least a medium-sized launch vehicle.

To be honest, the reason Lambert was so surprised was that France, despite being known as an industrial powerhouse, hadn't built such a large rocket in a long time. At least, it couldn't build one independently; it could only be built by the Europa League. Moreover, the Europa Space Agency hadn't launched a single medium-sized rocket in recent years.

If this rocket were standing at an official Chinese launch site, that would be understandable, since China has many different types of launch vehicles, and many are much larger than this. But the fact that this rocket appeared at a privately owned Chinese space launch site was unbelievable to him.

It's as incongruous as a box movie appearing in a South American primitive tribe.

At this moment, led by Zhang Rui, the group took the electric elevator all the way to the ground floor.

The rocket appeared even taller and more magnificent.

Lambert raised his head and asked, "Dr. Zhang, where did this rocket come from? Did a commercial space company in the United States buy it?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Rui felt very strange: "The United States? No, Mr. Gavin, you should understand that the United States would never sell us rockets. This rocket was developed and manufactured by a private aerospace company in China."

Lambert's eyes widened: "A private space company? From China? China has companies like that?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Oh, that's incredible. Is there some misunderstanding? Is there a problem with the understanding?"

"Misunderstanding? It can't be a misunderstanding, Mr. Lambert. This is a medium-sized launch vehicle developed by Star Glory, and its performance parameters are excellent."

Just then, a few people walked over, led by a beautiful woman, Fang Xiaoya, the chief engineer of Starry Sky Glory.

Zhang Rui pointed to Fang Xiaoya and the others and said, "Everyone, this is the Starry Sky Glory team."

Lambert, Zona, and the others looked over and saw that everyone there had Asian faces; they were all Chinese. This shocked Lambert even more. He hadn't expected that the so-called Starry Sky Glory was actually a Chinese commercial aerospace company, unlike some other countries' so-called aerospace companies that employed Western engineers.

At this moment, Zhang Rui greeted Fang Xiaoya and the others, and then introduced them to Lambert and Zona.

Both were shocked that such a young Asian woman was actually the chief engineer of an aerospace company.

It's worth noting that Westerners generally perceive Easterners as looking much younger, and Fang Xiaoya looks like she's not even twenty years old, with some baby fat.

Good heavens, what can a girl like that do?
Lambert strongly suspected that Fang Xiaoya was just a pretty face and had no ability to serve as chief engineer, perhaps only knowing a little about aerospace technology.

Zona asked, "May I ask which university Ms. Fang graduated from? It must be one of the Ivy League schools in the United States, right?"

Fang Xiaoya shook her head: "I have never formally studied abroad, I only went abroad for a year of training."

Zona was speechless for a moment; this was not the answer she wanted.

An engineer who has never formally studied in the United States is actually the chief engineer of this Chinese commercial aerospace company?
This sounds very unusual and illogical.

Zona glanced at Lambert and asked in a low voice in French, "Mr. Lambert, is China capable of training such outstanding aerospace engineers on its own?"

Lambert shrugged, clearly disagreeing.

Lambert's eyes lit up, and he changed the subject to chat with Fang Xiaoya.

"Ms. Fang, since you are the chief engineer, are you in charge of this rocket?"

"Yes, this is the rocket that I led the team to develop."

"Could you tell us more about this rocket, such as its specific parameters and performance specifications? We are very curious about that."

Fang Xiaoya smiled slightly: "Of course."

Fang Xiaoya began to introduce the basic information about the Starry Sky Glory experimental rocket in front of her.

Fang Xiaoya is a pure science and engineering girl. She is not good at talking about other things, or she simply does not want to talk about them. But when it comes to rocket engineering, she is absolutely knowledgeable and eloquent. It would not be an exaggeration to describe her as "talking non-stop".

This left the aerospace expert, Lambert Gavin, completely bewildered.

It's important to know that Fang Xiaoya wasn't just talking about data; she also shared a lot of practical information about aerospace technology.

Some of the new technologies used in aerospace are not even well understood by Lambert; he has only heard of them and knows that such a technology exists.

After all, France is hardly a space power, and the technology it uses is mostly from decades ago.

After Fang Xiaoya finished speaking, Lambert was completely dumbfounded.

Zona noticed Lambert's embarrassment and was speechless for a moment. She hadn't expected that this so-called aerospace expert would be outshone by a young female engineer from China.

Fortunately, there was no way to record this scene. It would have been quite embarrassing to broadcast this footage verbatim.

At the same time, Zona's view of Chinese people has also changed significantly.

Zona had never been to China before, nor had she ever had any contact with Chinese people. Her mind was filled with stereotypes about China, but this time, the Chinese people she met with her own eyes surprised her.

These Chinese people have an elite appearance and speak with great eloquence; they are clearly highly intelligent individuals.

At this moment, Fang Xiaoya said, "Alright, I have things to do now, you can do as you please."

Zhang Rui nodded: "Honey, you guys go ahead and get busy. I'll be fine here. Our boss will be here soon."

Will Boss Hu come too?

"Yes, he'll be here in a bit."

Fang Xiaoya nodded without saying anything.

At this point, Lambert asked, "Ms. Fang, may we observe your work?"

Fang Xiaoya thought for a moment and said, "If you don't find it boring, of course you can. I have no problem with that."

It seems Lambert's skin is thicker than I thought; he recovered quickly from the blow and was determined to find some clues about the unprofessionalism of the Starry Sky Glory team.

Fang Xiaoya and her team still had a heavy workload. Although the rocket itself had been almost fully debugged, the satellite that had just arrived needed to be installed into the rocket's payload bay.

This is not as simple as just putting the satellite in; various functional tests are required to ensure that the rocket can open the payload bay to release the satellite and activate its various functions after reaching the predetermined orbit.

This work is progressing relatively quickly. Although the satellite has not yet been officially placed into the rocket's payload bay, debugging has already begun.

Once the satellite and rocket are successfully connected, the satellite can be placed inside.

This is the basic process.

Lambert watched very carefully, and was also surprised by the working attitude of Fang Xiaoya and the others.

These Chinese engineers were indeed very dedicated, completely exceeding Lambert's expectations. It was hard to believe that they were so young yet had such rich experience and proficient professional knowledge.

Just then, Fang Xiaoya frowned as she looked at the data monitoring screen.

We just conducted a round of testing, and surprisingly, one of the functional tests failed.

This function is very important, as it determines whether the satellite can be activated properly.

Fang Xiaoya said to the others, "Now check where the problem is with the rocket's main control computer and data connection, hurry up."

The whole team got busy, and the atmosphere became a bit tense.

"They seem to be having some trouble," Zona whispered to Lambert.

Lambert smiled slightly: "It's obvious that their technical capabilities are still lacking, and I'm afraid this launch will not be successful."

Zona glanced at Lambert, who was clearly gloating.

Just then, someone walked over.

Zona's eyes lit up. It was an Asian man, tall and handsome.

Is this person also an engineer?

At this moment, Zhang Rui said, "Our boss is here."

"...Huh? Boss? Really?"

(End of this chapter)