Chapter 344： still need to work hard

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The reason why I chose to cooperate with SpaceX is not only because Chen William is the major shareholder of this company - he once invested 200 million US dollars and held 33% of the company's shares, and it is the current SpaceX Falcon 9 carrier. After the successful development of the rocket, the cost of launching satellites is already very low, and of course there is still room for further reduction in the future.

When William Chen initially invested in spacex, the subprime mortgage crisis broke out, and Musk was in a desperate situation.

At that time, after his spacex experienced the failure of the first three rockets, and Tesla always needed capital investment, his personal assets were exhausted, and both spacex and Tesla were facing the possibility of closing down.

At that time, William Chen invested 200 million US dollars to support the research and development of the Falcon 9 and the dragon that were undertaken by SpaceX at that time, as well as a lot of labor costs.

And at that time, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States also extended a helping hand to him and gave SpaceX a large order, which is a large order to help NASA provide 12 resupply services to the International Space Station. The contract amount is as high as 16. One hundred million U.S. dollars.

Relying on William Chen's investment and the deal with NASA, Musk successfully weathered the financial crisis.

So why did NASA choose to support SpaceX so strongly?

In fact, in addition to the space shuttle, NASA's main launch projects are all carried out by the Delta 4 and Atlas 5 rockets provided by United Launch Alliance.

At that time, space launches in the United States were monopolized by Boeing and Lock Martin, and the two companies developed a new generation of low-cost rockets under the military's Progressive One-Time Launch Vehicle (eelv) program. Subsequently, the two companies set up a joint venture "United Launch Alliance" (United Launch Alliance) to adjust the business and reduce costs, although the two giants claimed that the cost of the combined project was greatly reduced, saving the US government from $100 million to $150 million in related expenses each year.

However, the monopoly of a single company is still very obvious. After all, after its establishment, it has monopolized the rocket launch projects of the U.S. Air Force, NASA and other government agencies.

For example, the Delta IV heavy rocket has the strongest carrying capacity in service. Its carrying capacity is twice as high as that of the Falcon 9, which has just been successfully developed by SpaceX, but the launch cost is about 140 million US dollars. It took nearly 30 months from order receipt to launch!

Therefore, NASA has long complained about the expensive rocket launch cost and the long preparation cycle.

Later, NASA faced the problem of choosing a more economical way to enter space after the retirement of the space shuttle. Neither a rocket nor a Russian spaceship is a good choice for NASA.

NASA must choose a competitive company to invest in and develop a new generation of spaceships, and SpaceX is the right choice.

In addition to cost reduction, SpaceX does not have a large number of shareholders. Compared with such a large company, SpaceX is very flexible in decision-making and can devote all its efforts to completing contracts.

If SpaceX is successful, then NASA's huge investment will enable low-cost space travel in the future, and SpaceX will also undertake the mission of manned spaceflight.

Therefore, under this consideration, NASA chose to vigorously support the development of SpaceX. In 2006, NASA invested 8 million US dollars in the commercial rail transportation service project to build 2 launch pads and signed 2 target companies, of which There is SpaceX.

Also in 2006, SpaceX received a $100 million grant from NASA to develop the Falcon 9.

In terms of technical research, SpaceX's biggest backing comes from NASA.

spacex has its own research and development department, as well as a group of talented scientists and designers, but its main technical patents come from NASA and its affiliated Goddard Space Flight Center, Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, and Marshall Space Flight Center , Stennis Space Center and Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

For the needs of some projects, NASA often provides R&D equipment and test sites for SpaceX, and uses its own technology and equipment advantages to help SpaceX perform better R&D and save costs.

For example, the prototype of the Merlin engine used on the "Falcon" 9 rocket was the engine system used by NASA for the manned moon landing. NASA transferred the complete technology of the Merlin engine to SpaceX, allowing SpaceX to build on the original basis. Remodeled and upgraded.

It can be said that the technology of the "Falcon" rocket and the "Dragon" spacecraft is the integration and crystallization of decades of technology in the aerospace field of the United States, not just what SpaceX can develop in just a few years.

Among them are some technologies of the "Apollo" moon landing program and many other secret technologies of NASA in the United States. NASA, through patent transfer and other means, enables these technologies to be applied to SpaceX's space launch, thus reducing the cost of satellite launches and costs for NASA. The cost of space transportation.

In order to support SpaceX, NASA also dispatched its core technical backbone to the company, including a group of top experts in the aerospace industry. Coupled with the technical elites in the industry dug by SpaceX from NASA and the industry, the company has a large number of top technical personnel in the industry, which ensures the success rate of its technology research and development and the strength of external financing.

And at present, NASA also holds shares in SpaceX. As an investor, NASA and its subordinate research centers, industrial facilities and SpaceX are still in business cooperation.

SpaceX will send technical requirements to NASA according to the needs of the project, NASA will do research, and finally SpaceX will pay for the technical achievements or patents it has completed.

This is similar to the partnership between many companies and research institutions such as universities.

These adjustments in commercial relations have greatly reduced the cost of research and development of aerospace technology and shortened the research and development cycle.

At the same time, it is precisely because of the existence of SpaceX that it is possible for NASA to cut redundancies in recent years, which has led to a certain increase in the labor productivity of the entire American aerospace industry system.

Therefore, it can be said that there is a win-win relationship between SpaceX and NASA. Since the US government's funding is getting less and less, if NASA continues to rely on this monopoly giant, then what they can do in the aerospace industry will be Very few, must shrink the front line, then America's aerospace research and development will take a big step backward.

And spacex provides another option for NASA, just to authorize the technology that NASA does not use temporarily to SpaceX. When the company's strength increases, it can in turn help NASA to spend less money and do more things, thus achieve a win-win situation.

This single communication satellite launch contract from William Chen to SpaceX is also very important for SpaceX. This is the first launch order for their Falcon 9 carrier rocket after the successful development, and the successful completion of this launch , also made SpaceX famous, and their cost-effective satellite launch business has also attracted interest from many countries, including Europe.

There are already several orders under negotiation. I am afraid that from now on, SpaceX will be able to grab a huge share in the aerospace field.

Of course, this is also what William Chen is happy to see. After all, he is the major shareholder of this company. Nearly a year ago, when William Chen invested in SpaceX, its post-investment valuation was only $600 million, and now , this valuation is already more than 2 billion US dollars, and with the smooth development of their business, the valuation will still rise rapidly. It is foreseeable that in the future, SpaceX will also be a super unicorn with a market value of 100 billion US dollars. beast company.

"William, I saw the news that you have a child, congratulations."

After witnessing the success of this satellite launch with Musk, he said to William Chen:

"But you only have one now and you still need to work hard. I have five children, and only two."

Seeing Musk say these words with a flamboyant expression, William Chen is also speechless. This guy is really a genius. Not only is he a tech maniac, but even giving birth to a child is full of sense of technology. He uses medical technology to separate two children. One child of twins, one child of triplets, there are 5 children, and this efficiency is no one else.

"Don't worry, Musk, I will surpass you sooner or later."

William Chen said indifferently.

uh-huh? You have medical skills, so what, I have many women, even if I know that you will have a 6th child in the future, but I am not wrong at all.

You must know that William Chen is only 22 years old. To be precise, he already has two children, one has been born, and the other will be born in three or four months. According to this efficiency, when he reaches the age of Musk ...

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