343: Chapter 343 Lunar Outpost: The Flag of the New World

In October, in Command Center, the sea breeze, carrying a slightly salty scent, gently brushed over the launch site.

In front of the giant vertical assembly building, hundreds of people waited quietly.

They included reporters from around the world, heads of national space agencies, local students in school uniforms, and elderly scientists with gray hair.

Everyone's gaze was fixed on the massive door, which stood a hundred meters tall.

At ten o'clock sharp in the morning, the door slowly opened.

The roar of the tractor came from deep within the plant, low and powerful, like the breathing of some ancient behemoth.

Then, a silver-white behemoth, pushed by the tractor, slowly appeared in the sunlight.

The Sky Dragon Super-Heavy Rocket.

It was one hundred and twenty meters tall, equivalent to a forty-story building.

With a diameter of twelve meters, it was wider than a train.

Its entire body was silver-white, reflecting a blinding light under the sun.

On the rocket body, four red characters were particularly eye-catching: "Lunar Outpost".

On the viewing platform, Rogozin, the head of the Russian space agency, instinctively took a step forward.

The sixty-year-old Rogozin was a veteran of the Russian aerospace industry; he had seen the Proton, the Soyuz, and the Energia.

But at this moment, looking up at this behemoth, he muttered to himself: "This thing... could launch an entire space station in one go."

Beside him, Jan Wörner, the Director General of the European Space Agency, was equally dumbfounded.

He instinctively took out his phone to take a picture, only to find his hand trembling slightly.

Chu Tianming walked up to the small podium in front of the viewing platform.

The fifty-year-old CEO of Starry Sky Aerospace was wearing dark blue work clothes, his hair slightly messy from the sea breeze.

Behind him, the Sky Dragon Super-Heavy Rocket stood towering, like a silver mountain.

"Everyone, today Starry Sky Aerospace announces that the 'Lunar Outpost' project has officially launched."

He signaled, and the big screen behind him lit up.

Sky Dragon Super-Heavy Rocket Technical Parameters

Height: 120 meters

Diameter: 12 meters

Liftoff Thrust: 8000 tons

Low Earth Orbit Payload Capacity: 200 tons

Earth-Moon Transfer Orbit Payload Capacity: 50 tons

Lunar Outpost Project Timeline

2024: Launch of the core module (living module + energy module + laboratory module)

2025: Launch of the second living module, increasing permanent personnel to 6

2026: Launch of the scientific experimental module, beginning lunar resource exploration

2028: Completion of a permanent base capable of housing 12 people

Below the stage, reporters were frantically taking notes.

A reporter raised a hand: "Mr. Chu, what does a payload capacity of fifty tons mean?"

Chu Tianming smiled, a calm confidence in his smile: "It means we can send complete living modules, energy modules, and laboratory modules to the moon in one go. No need for on-orbit assembly, no need for multiple dockings. It's like moving into a new home; pack it up, and transport it all at once."

He paused: "Humanity is about to become a multi-planetary species."

Two o'clock in the afternoon, Washington.

The NASA headquarters is located in the southwest of Washington, D.C., a huge modern building.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the administrator's office was so heavy it felt like it could drip water.

Jim Bridenstine sat behind his desk, the parameters of the Sky Dragon Super-Heavy Rocket displayed on the large screen in front of him.

The sixty-year-old Bridenstine had worked at NASA for thirty years, rising from an engineer to the administrator.

He had seen the Challenger explosion, the Columbia disintegration, and witnessed countless delays and failures.

But at this moment, he felt an unprecedented urgency.

An emergency meeting was to be held in ten minutes.

Around the oval conference table sat twelve core NASA officials.

Someone spoke up, their voice dry: "Administrator, our original Artemis program was scheduled for 2028. Now..."

Bridenstine raised his hand to interrupt: "I know. Now, it must be moved up to 2024."

The conference room fell into a dead silence.

Someone raised a hand: "What about the budget? Moving it up four years will cost at least an extra fifty billion."

Bridenstine smiled bitterly: "Congress will provide it. If they don't want to see the Chinese raising their national flag on the moon while Americans are still watching on TV."

Moscow, Russian Space Agency headquarters, in an equally tense conference room.

Rogozin had just flown back from Command Center and hadn't adjusted to the jet lag yet, but the meeting had already started.

On the big screen was Starry Sky's lunar project timeline.

Rogozin spoke: "Comrades, we have fallen behind. Not just behind the United States, but also behind a private enterprise in China."

Someone raised a hand: "Administrator, we still have the Energia technical reserves. If we restart the production line..."

Rogozin shook his head: "It's too late. By the time we build it, Starry Sky's base will already be finished."

The conference room fell silent.

Rogozin took a deep breath: "I have submitted a report to the Kremlin. I suggest cooperating with Starry Sky."

Someone exclaimed: "Cooperate? We are a major space power!"

Rogozin smiled bitterly: "A major power? Can a major power build the Sky Dragon Super-Heavy?"

No one answered.

At the European Space Agency headquarters, a fierce debate was underway.

The French and German representatives stood on one side, while representatives from Eastern Europe, such as Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, stood on the other.

The French representative spoke: "We should cooperate with Starry Sky. Their rockets can help us launch European scientific payloads."

The Polish representative sneered: "Cooperate? And then what? Become a vassal of Starry Sky?"

The German representative shook his head: "This is not vassalage, it's mutual benefit. They have the lift capacity, we have the technology."

The Hungarian representative stood up: "We support Poland. Europe should be independent and self-reliant."

In the conference room, the shouting grew louder.

Evening, at the beach in Command Center.

The setting sun was sinking in the west, dyeing the entire sea surface a golden red.

The waves gently lapped against the beach, making a rhythmic swishing sound.

In the distance, the lights of the launch tower had begun to turn on, standing out prominently in the twilight.

Su Chen and Chu Tianming were walking slowly along the beach.

Neither of them spoke, just quietly listening to the sound of the waves.

After walking a long way, Chu Tianming finally spoke: "Mr. Su, there's a question I've always wanted to ask."

Su Chen turned his head to look at him: "Go ahead."

Chu Tianming stopped and looked at the launch tower in the distance: "Why go to the moon? There are so many problems to solve on Earth—poverty, disease, war, climate change. Shouldn't our money be used to solve these first?"

Su Chen also stopped.

He looked at the sea and was silent for three seconds.

Then he said: "Old Chu, have you heard of the 'Earth Cradle' theory?"

Chu Tianming nodded: "Tsiolkovsky said—Earth is the cradle of humanity, but humanity cannot stay in the cradle forever."

Su Chen smiled: "Right. It's not because we don't like Earth. It's because—Earth is too small."

He reached out his hand and pointed to the sky. In the twilight, the first star had already begun to twinkle.

"If humanity only stays on Earth, one day, we will exhaust the resources, destroy the environment, and kill each other off. There are seven billion people on Earth, but only this one Earth. Any slight mistake, and all of humanity will be buried with it."

He paused: "But if we can head toward the stars, there are infinite possibilities. Infinite resources, infinite space, infinite opportunities. The moon is just the first step. Mars is the second step. Then the asteroid belt, the moons of Jupiter, the edge of the solar system, and Proxima Centauri."

Chu Tianming was silent.

After a long time, he said: "So, Starry Sky's mission is not to make money?"

Su Chen shook his head.

He turned around, looking at Chu Tianming, his eyes very calm, but with a power that made one unable to question him: "Making money is just a means. The true mission is to make humanity an interstellar civilization."

In the distance, the launch tower's lights were getting brighter. Another rocket was being prepared. At seven in the evening, the sky was completely dark. Su Chen and Chu Tianming walked back.

Chu Tianming suddenly asked: "Mr. Su, do you think we can succeed?"

Su Chen did not answer. He looked at the stars in the night sky and was silent for a long time.

Then he said: "Four hundred years ago, a group of people crossed the Atlantic in small boats, searching for an unknown continent. They didn't know what was over there, didn't know if they could return alive, didn't know if heaven or hell awaited them."

He paused: "But they went. Because they believed there was a New World on the other side."

He turned his head and looked at Chu Tianming: "The moon is our New World."

Chu Tianming smiled, and the two continued walking forward. Behind them, the sound of the waves. Ahead, the lights were bright.