Cape Dume Manor, restaurant in the morning.
Janet walked in last, ran to her aunt first, put her arms around Veronica's shoulders and kissed her on the face, then turned to Simon with a smile, cradled the man's head and gave her a kiss, and finally stood next to the man. sit down.
The little ones at the table were confused. Jennifer, who had a bulging belly and had to take care of the two children next to her, couldn't help but roll her eyes. Veronica lowered her head slightly and pretended not to notice, helping Melbourne to share the food.
Janet picked up the tableware and drove away the waitress who was helping. Then she asked Simon, "How is it on the east coast?"
Knowing what the woman was asking, Simon shook his head regretfully: "I just received the news that Scaife has closed down the Pittsburgh Tribune."
"It's really a retreat to the end. Unfortunately, the Mellon family has given in so simply this time, and some of our subsequent plans cannot be implemented."
"Yes, there is an idiom in China called..."
"The rabbit dies and the fox is sad."
"Ha, your Chinese is at least level 8 now," Simon praised, and then said: "Anyway, the Mellon family suddenly retreated so completely, we can't do anything else, otherwise it will make other old money families in the federation even more wary. After all, you can’t offend everyone at once.”
Simon's original consideration was to use the opportunity of the Mellon Financial Group incident to attack the Mellon family's interests in other industries and achieve the purpose of weakening the Mellon family to the greatest extent.
The Mellon family suddenly gave up on Mellon Financial over the weekend, which caught Simon off guard.
The other party did not forcefully resist on Mellon's financial issues, and Simon could no longer be aggressive. After all, the Mellon family was not without roots in Washington and Wall Street. Pushing too hard for a while would inevitably make other old money families feel miserable and even share the same hatred.
I can only stop.
Simon gave up, and the Mellon family chose to back down. It had just launched an investigation into the Mellon family's loan fraud, and it will probably be settled soon.
Not knowing what happened behind the scenes, Simon could only lament the decisiveness of the century-old Qian family.
Thinking about this, Simon added: "Actually, the most regrettable thing is the stock market. Last week, Mellon Financial led Chevron, Alcoa and other companies to plummet for three consecutive days, but failed to bring down the Nasdaq. I initially thought this was a A good opportunity.”
Jennifer said on the opposite side: "Mellon Financial is on the New York Stock Exchange, not Nasdaq."
Simon shrugged: "Pretty much, it's the federal stock market after all."
Janet picked up the milk and took a sip. She probably thought that today's milk didn't taste good, so she poured some for Seattle next to her, and mixed half of it for her man. She smiled and asked, "Are you anxious?"
"Of course it's urgent? Time is money?" Simon also replied with a smile: "No matter how high the market value of Ygritte's companies is, it is just a number now and has no more meaning. And the high price of the entire Nasdaq has already affected Westeros. The layout of the system in the field of new technologies has had a negative impact. Currently, the costs of both our own expansion and external mergers and acquisitions have increased significantly, which has led to the postponement of many of our plans."
Janet said: "If you are in a hurry, how about we expose it ourselves? Just sell a large amount of stocks is enough? We can also cash out the funds."
"Continue to put pressure on the Mellon family? It will only stimulate the old money class. If you reduce your holdings in technology stocks now? Then you will offend the whole world."
Janet waved her fork lightly: "It's really troublesome."
"We'd better do nothing anyway."
Across the way, Jennifer listened to the conversation between the two and asked, "When will Soros launch his attack?"
"About May?" Simon said, nodded, and said: "This is another opportunity. Soros is shorting Southeast Asia, and the impact will definitely be transmitted to North America? If the Nasdaq can still hold on by then? It will be a miracle."
In my memory, the Thai baht fell in July. But in fact, international speculators started short selling in May.
On the other hand, in the original time and space, the first circuit breaker after the establishment of the circuit breaker mechanism in the U.S. stock market was in October 1997, when the Dow Jones plummeted due to the impact of the Southeast Asian financial crisis.
The Nasdaq Index was not crazy in 1997.
This time, when the impact of the Southeast Asian financial crisis comes, the first one to be hit will no longer be the Dow Jones, but Nasdaq, and the time may be much earlier, instead of October when the Southeast Asian financial crisis was the worst.
In any case, Simon could only wait patiently.
However, based on the recent growth rate of the Nasdaq, even if calculated at an average monthly increase of 5%, if it lasts for another three months, it is estimated to be above 7,500 points. By then, Yigrit, as the leader, will definitely exceed one trillion. , even if you can't get too many direct benefits from these market values for a while, it's exciting to think about it.
After chatting casually and having breakfast, Veronica personally sent Melbourne to school, Jennifer continued to raise her baby at home, and Simon and his wife took a helicopter from Cape Dume and headed straight across the bay to Santa Monica, south of Santa Monica. Rhea Vista, SpaceX headquarters.
There will be a public rocket engine test here today.
After a year of intense research and development driven by Simon at any time, the SpaceX team officially launched its first rocket engine, named Merlin-1.
Simon came up with the name through an open call from the SpaceX team, but of course, he cheated a little and settled on a name provided by a guy named Elon Musk.
At first glance, the name 'Merlin' does not seem to match the names of SpaceX such as 'Falcon' and 'Raptor'. In fact, Merlin is the transliteration of 'Merlin', and the English word is 'Merlin'. Meaning, they are all birds of prey.
However, the new Merlin engine is completely different from the original SpaceX Merlin engine.
In layman’s terms, the design of SpaceX’s Merlin engine was actually a public engine architecture from NASA. It was similar in concept to the ARM public version architecture used by many manufacturers in the chip field. Then, with the improvement of the SpaceX team, it eventually became a famous Merlin series.
This time the new Merlin engine is based on the famous RD-170 rocket engine from the former Soviet Union.
The first-generation Merlin had a thrust of only more than 30 tons, but the RD-170 was a giant with a thrust of more than 700 tons. The two are the difference between early ARM chips and Pentium-class X86 processors. Even the thrust-to-weight ratio can better reflect the balanced performance. ', the value of the first-generation Merlin 45 is also much lower than the RD-170's 75.
It’s also fun to say.
In Simon's few professional memories of this, the subsequent Merlin series looked more and more like the RD-170, and it is self-evident what happened during it.
This time Simon can be considered as 'one step in the right place'.
Speaking of which, in one year from the establishment of the SpaceX team at the beginning of last year to now, a lot has happened around this private aerospace company.
When the Simons got off the helicopter at the SpaceX headquarters in Playa Vista, they were greeted by a group of people that best reflected everything that had happened around SpaceX in the past year.
Among these people, in addition to the SpaceX team, there are also NASA officials, Lockheed Martin executives, representatives of the Ukrainian National Space Agency, etc.
The matter still starts with Simon privately obtaining a large amount of aerospace and nuclear energy information from Ukraine.
In terms of aerospace, since SpaceX has decided to use RD-170 technology, although it is difficult to have any patents in the aerospace field due to its particularity, it is better to have some legitimate claims. Simon simply brought in the Ukrainian authorities.
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, although Ukraine retained a full set of RD-170 engine technical data, without the assistance of the Russian industrial chain, it has lost the ability to produce this engine on its own. In addition, the Westeros system and the Ukrainian government With the close relationship and tangible benefits, Kyiv readily agreed to the relevant cooperation.
Not just RD-170, under the operation of the Westeros system, Ukraine has taken out almost all the wealth that can be transferred.
The conditions for all this technology transfer are only a mere US$25 million in cash and a 20% stake in a shell company jointly established by both parties outside of SpaceX specifically for the external sales of rocket engines. This is equivalent to the fact that Ukraine can only enjoy the external sales of SpaceX. 20% profit share when using the engine.
In addition, Ukraine will no longer be able to participate in profit sharing when SpaceX produces engines for its own use or other businesses that will be developed in the future.
Whether it is SpaceX's development goals or the bulk of its profits, it is actually its own business in the future. You must know that providing a full set of launch services and only selling engines are absolutely different in profit.
Moreover, while legitimately acquiring a large amount of space technology from the former Soviet Union, Simon also once again received a large number of experts in related fields.
The new Merlin 1 was able to be born within one year, and these experts from the former Soviet Union were indispensable.
However, the biggest improvement of Merlin 1 this time is not the improvement based on RD-170, but the smooth use of 3D printing technology, which in turn involves complex public relations and technology integration over the past year.
Simon acquired a 3D printing company called 3D-Miracle last year, and the following year began to conduct technical research specifically on 3D printing of rocket engines.
Because it involves all aspects such as software and materials, it is certainly not enough to rely solely on the 3D-Miracle team.
In terms of software, 3D-Miracle has cooperated with Autodesk, an industrial design software company with a heavy stake in the Westeros system.
In terms of materials, this is also one of the biggest difficulties in 3D printing rocket engines, because the printing alloy of engine materials needs to be ground into uniform particles less than 500 microns, and it must be done in an oxygen-free environment. Simon personally stepped in and consulted the accumulation of several major national laboratories in the United States, and then successfully found the relevant technology and team.
Otherwise, although it is only a matter of time, it certainly cannot be done within a year.
In the end, the most direct result of conquering 3D printing technology for rocket engines is that the manufacturing cycle of rocket engines, which took six months to complete using traditional casting methods, was shortened to one month. Not only that, thanks to 3D printing, many parts of the engine that once required the splicing and combination of hundreds of parts can be formed at one time, and the stability of the Merlin 1 engine has also been greatly improved.
The most critical thing is of course cost.
According to estimates by the SpaceX team, as the technology further matures and enters mass production, the cost of 3D printing engines will drop by more than 70% compared to traditional engines. If SpaceX can realize rocket recycling and reuse in the future, the cost will be reduced to a terrifying level.
Simon founded SpaceX. Although he had his own ambitions, the company's development goals have been very down-to-earth from the beginning. SpaceX must achieve commercial self-reliance instead of vainly working hard for the future of mankind.
Just like 3D printing, in the eyes of ordinary people in this era, this technology is a bit close to science fiction level, but in fact, there are many years of technology accumulation in all aspects, but because of the lack of practical application in various research and development, even if it has achieved Technological progress at the level of science fiction often ends up being buried in the pile of old paper.
Human technology has exploded for decades, and this is what Simon regrets most. Working behind closed doors and being complacent has resulted in the waste of a large amount of social resources in research and development of advanced technologies that cannot be put into practical use. Without practical application, opportunities for further progress will be lost.
Therefore, whether it is SpaceX or FusionTimes and SolarCity, which are progressing quite smoothly, the initial development strategies of these companies are mainly 'integration'.
Whether using normal means or stealing and abducting, first integrate the breakthrough technologies that have been achieved by predecessors and achieve maximum practical application, and then consider going further.
Of course, Simon could stand and talk without pain in his back.
With the development of science and technology to this day, he is definitely not the only one to think of this, but there are only a few people who have enough strength and background to do this.
With the strong financial support of the Westeros system, Simon also happened to encounter the best opportunity when world confrontation temporarily disappeared and the process of globalization accelerated, allowing technology and talents to flow smoothly. If any of these conditions were missing, he wanted to do it. The difficulty of this matter will increase significantly.
SpaceX headquarters.
After the Simons greeted everyone one by one, they went to a hall upstairs of the newly completed SpaceX fiberglass structure headquarters building. From here, they could see a large open space along the Ballona Creek to the seaside. It was originally more than 300 hectares. The wasteland was purchased by Simon last year and used as a test site for SpaceX equipment.
At this time, looking from the hall, a two-story test bench was set up on the flat land on the bank of Ballona Creek five hundred meters away.
The better-performing prototype of the first two Merlin No. 1 engines has been installed on the test bed.
In fact, today's public test is more of a formality, and the SpaceX team has conducted many tests privately.
The purpose of today's public test involves a big business.
Let’s start from the beginning.
Since last year, the new-generation Atlas launch vehicle under the auspices of NASA and Lockheed Martin has been looking for a first-stage engine manufacturer.
In the past, Lockheed Martin finally signed a long-term supply agreement with Russia, and the relevant engine was the RD-170.
This time, since SpaceX is to be commercialized, Simon will certainly not miss this opportunity. Through lobbying and even pressure on the White House, Congress, NASA, Lockheed Martin, etc., he finally included SpaceX as a candidate, and also The bidding deadline was extended from last year to now.
Moreover, because the "domestic" principle comes first, and the Merlin 1 is based on the RD-170 and has better parameters, in today's test, as long as there are no accidents at the test site, SpaceX will basically win this test. A big order.
It's indeed a big order.
According to the agreement that has been drawn up privately, NASA and Lockheed Martin will sign a 20-year supply agreement with the supplier, with the total supply reaching 100 units. Moreover, compared to the US$10 million quoted by Russia for the RD-170, SpaceX’s quote is still US$10 million, assuming that the cost is lower due to the blessing of 3D printing technology. Because the preliminary test data is better, SpaceX’s quote is still US$10 million.
The total is a large order of US$1 billion.
Even if it is divided into 20 years, it is only 50 million per year. Considering the gross profit margin of SpaceX, it can be regarded as a big start for this company.
And, after all, this is just a business for SpaceX.
Neither NASA nor Lockheed Martin has restricted SpaceX from using the Merlin series for its own use, so independent launches will still be the main focus in the future.
In the lobby of SpaceX's office building, everyone was seated. SpaceX President Gwen Shotwell confirmed that everyone was present, asked Simon for instructions, then turned to the surrounding staff sitting behind computers and started testing.
A moment later, with the flames and thick smoke coming from the test platform in the distance, the powerful power of Merlin 1 made everyone feel the tremor.
A series of parameter reports from NASA supervisors came from the loudspeaker at the same time.
"Sea level thrust: 81773KN."
"Sea level specific impulse: 353s."
"Combustion chamber pressure, wow, 27.3Mpa, are you sure? OK."
"Push-to-weight ratio... Push-to-weight ratio... 96, too strong."
“…”
In the hall, hearing the voices in their ears and the gradual commotion among the staff who came to watch the test, even the NASA official sitting next to Simon couldn't calm down and frequently turned his head to look at Simon. Although some data had been obtained in advance, the equally professional NASA official still had some doubts when he heard it on the spot.
Simon ignored this.
Having carefully read through a lot of information in advance, I could probably predict the shock these data would bring to representatives from NASA, Lockheed Martin and other parties. Only Janet next to me looked like she was listening to what was written in heaven.
Just as she was about to explain a few words to Janet, the plump and fair-skinned Ukrainian female representative sitting on the other side of her enthusiastically chatted with the obviously confused Janet in standard English, probably explaining the meaning of the relevant data, but The woman's soft voice was obviously a bit loud, as if she wanted to attract other people's attention.
The test lasted for more than half an hour. The NASA and Lockheed Martin teams were a little skeptical for the first time, so they went to the test bench to check, and then conducted a second test.
Of course there is no problem.
There has been sufficient communication in private, and after two consecutive tests, NASA had no objections. Then, under the witness of all parties, the executives of SpaceX and Lockheed Martin, both parties to the transaction, signed the agreement on the spot, and opened a champagne celebration ceremony.
In the lively hall.
Simon simply socialized with the guests, then found Gwen Shotwell and other SpaceX backbones, and began to pour cold water on them and wave their whips.
"This is just the beginning, Gwen, and everyone. The most important thing for you next is to build SpaceX's own launch vehicle. Moreover, I have set a goal long ago. SpaceX must work hard towards reusable rockets, oh , is there anyone who told me this time that it’s impossible... Very good, on such a beautiful day today, it’s not good for someone to be fired... "
After pouring cold water on it, of course don’t forget the sweet dates.
After announcing a reward package totaling 15 million US dollars on the spot, it was almost time. Simon turned around to look for Janet and saw her walking with a woman with a Slavic appearance on her arm.
"Simon, this is Natasha. She speaks English very well. She doesn't look Ukrainian at all. I'm planning to invite her to go shopping in the city together."
Simon smiled and listened to Janet's introduction, and gave her a look that said, "It doesn't look like you're pretending to be stupid." Then he casually shook hands with the woman in front of him: "Hello, Natasha, hehe, I'm very happy." Love this typical Slavic name.”
Looking closely, this Slavic woman, who is about 175 centimeters tall, is about 30 years old. She is wearing a black women's suit. She has a perfectly plump figure and a fair and charming face, which is quite exciting. After he opened his mouth, his voice was soft and soft, but there was still a hint of coquettishness in his voice. I don't know if it was done deliberately.
"Oh, Mr. Westeros, it's an honor to meet you today. You can call me Nata."
"Okay, Nata."
Janet continued to be silly and sweet: "Simon, you see Nata's skin is so white. I really don't know how to take care of it. I will definitely ask you later."
"Actually, you are born with it. However, Jenny, your skin color is more beautiful. I am a little too fair."
"No, Simon likes white people." Janet said this, looking at the man in the woman's slightly brightened eyes: "Are you leaving?"
"Yeah, there's a meeting coming soon. I won't be going home at noon. Do I want to take you to the city first?"
"Okay," Janet said, not forgetting to look to her side: "Nata, do you have a problem being separated from the others?"
The woman shook her head quickly, with a look of honor on her face: "Of course not."
Simon didn't bother to pay attention to Janet's sudden interest. He said goodbye to everyone and left the SpaceX headquarters with the two of them.
He first flew to Beverly Hills to drop off the two girls, and then rushed to Malibu Studios.
"American Pie," which started filming at the end of last year, wrapped up production in mid-February and recently completed a rough cut. Because this is a project that Simon has personally followed up on, and the work schedule has been arranged in advance, Simon will watch the samples with the main creators today and provide suggestions for subsequent production.