As night falls, the launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base is brightly lit.
In an observation hall where you can see the launch site hundreds of meters away, just like last year, there were still many guests watching this time. In addition to Simon and the SpaceX team, the difference is that this time it was mainly people including NASA. representative of potential customers.
Gwen Shotwell, who once ran SpaceX and was also brought in by Simon to take charge of the new company this time, is a very capable manager. The test of the Merlin engine was completed last year, and until this Falcon 1 launch, in addition to the last $1 billion engine contract, Shotwell had successfully signed 27 commercial launch contracts with many potential customers, including NASA.
Just wait until Falcon 1 succeeds.
However, to be honest, everyone does not have high expectations for the first launch of Falcon 1. In history, has any rocket succeeded in its first launch? Yes, but very few. It is more about testing again and again before finally maturing.
Simon happened to talk about this when chatting with Shotwell before launch.
Simon hopes the first launch will fail.
This is not pretentious.
Simon is very appreciative of the achievements of the SpaceX team in the past few years. However, for the sophisticated aerospace industry, only by experiencing failures can we learn lessons and accumulate experience. Moreover, because of the high cost of aerospace engineering, even if it is not spent on your own money, , a failure is enough to make SpaceX engineers profound for several years.
Gwen Shotwell was very dissatisfied with her boss for throwing cold water on the rocket before launch, and also talked about another incident.
It is also a private rocket company in the United States.
Orbital Sciences Corporation, founded in 1982, entered the rocket launch business in 1987. It took three years to develop its first operational rocket, Pegasus, and launched it successfully in 1990.
Gwen Shotwell firmly believes that her team is better and cannot be inferior to Orbital Sciences.
When Simon heard this, he was just a little emotional.
Spending your own money and spending the country's money are really different.
I asked a few more questions about the current situation of Orbital Science Company, and then stopped paying attention.
Orbital Sciences Corporation is now basically absorbed by NASA. Moreover, the cost of this company's rocket launches is not much lower than that of the mainstream. In addition, due to its own size, it is not very competitive and can only conduct some small commercial launches.
Because Simon has determined the direction for SpaceX in advance, the Falcon series rockets are cost-effective enough to beat all current mainstream launch vehicles. This is an advantage that no other space launch company can match.
When the mechanical and clear countdown sound sounded in the observation hall, Simon stopped the discussion with Shotwell next to him, looked at the glass window, and finally couldn't help but ask the female senior next to him: "Gwen, we are sitting here, if the rocket It exploded directly, wouldn’t it be dangerous?”
The result was a blank stare.
"...Five, four, three, two, one, light the fire!"
Bright firelight accompanied by smoke and subsequent roars, the Falcon 1 on the launch site seemed to rise slowly into the sky, gradually accelerated, and soon disappeared from Simon's field of vision with a long trail. Some guests Unable to help but move closer to the glass window and continue watching, Simon sat still and turned to a projection screen hung on the wall of the observation hall.
The above is the picture returned by the camera carried by the Falcon 1 rocket itself.
The resolution is not high, but it is enough for both experts and laymen to roughly judge the flight status of the rocket.
Even though Simon had just said that he hoped the first launch would fail when chatting with Shotwell, but when it really happened, his heartstrings could not help but tighten a little, and his emotions were a little tangled. Occasionally, I glanced beside me and saw that the female executive who was dressed meticulously today had unconsciously clenched her fists.
While waiting, the picture on the projector trembled.
Simon glanced at the time displayed in the lower right corner of the big screen, 3 minutes and 27 seconds.
A voice came from the hall.
"First stage rocket separated."
At this time, everyone looked at the projection screen. When the trembling and intermittent picture became clear again, applause burst out spontaneously in the hall.
Simon also raised his hands and applauded.
It is generally known that the separation of the first and second stages of a rocket is the stage most prone to failure. After the first stage separation and the successful ignition of the second stage, the next step is the issue of entering orbit.
Time continues to pass minute by minute.
Eight minutes later, the outline of the earth began to appear on the projection screen, and everyone in the observation hall held their breath and concentrated.
At 8 minutes and 27 seconds, the secondary engine stalled.
Then, the stars and arrows separated.
Of course, this rocket does not carry satellites, but a model of Tinker Bayer's iBerry-10 Ultra mobile phone. However, it is not just a plastic model, but has communication and camera functions. Once it is officially in orbit, it can Post pictures for promotion.
8 minutes and 35 seconds.
After what seemed like a brief pause, a voice came from the hall again. The female voice, which had been calm before, was obviously a bit high-spirited: "The Falcon 1 rocket was launched successfully, and the target has officially entered orbit."
"yeah!"
Before Simon could react, Gwen Shotwell beside him had already made an excited sound. The small fist that had been resting on his knee was still raised, fell suddenly, and hit Simon's knee at an angle.
This is obviously intentional.
Before Simon could protest, Shotwell had already come over, hugged his boss, jumped up, and pounced on whoever came over.
There were also cheers in the hall.
Simon also saw two grown men hugging each other and crying with joy.
At the same time, there was the sound of champagne being opened, and the foam jumped directly into Simon's neck.
Well, that's obviously intentional too.
Simon did not turn around to look for the culprit, but looked at Girl A who was still sitting steadily with his boss beside him: "How about we give him a hug too."
Girl A smiled and pressed against her. It was fragrant and soft, much better than the guy who just played with rockets.
Just as he was feeling it, Simon's cell phone remembered.
Girl C is calling from San Francisco.
The news has been received over there, and the iBerry model has sent back photos of the first stop. Girl C said that Simon's custom-made iBerry phone has been activated. At the same time, Tinker Bayer has started preparing a news bulletin. We will take this opportunity to further promote the iBerry series.
I just hung up the phone with Girl C, and Janet’s call came in from Los Angeles.
Women are very aware of Simon's intentions in doing these things, so they also attach great importance to SpaceX's first launch. Just like Girl C just now, if she didn't have all kinds of things at hand, she would definitely come here today.
After receiving several calls in a row, Simon pulled Girl A up and joined the lively celebrations around her. It wasn't until one o'clock in the morning that everyone left Vandenberg Air Force Base in Simon's helicopter and returned to Los Angeles.
Early the next morning, the mainstream media was all over the news about the successful launch of Falcon 1.
Simon was originally not very interested in such a high-profile publicity, but since it was a success once and for all, the lively publicity can be regarded as an honor for the SpaceX team. Of course, there are also marketing requirements. After all, it is a commercial company.
However, this time it is not as good as before, promoting the first privately funded rocket or the like.
In the past, Musk did work completely alone, but the new SpaceX and the new Falcon 1 have cooperation in many aspects.
Of course, Simon will not belittle himself because of this, because the strategy he formulated from the beginning was not independent research and development, but integration, as much as possible, integrating as much as possible the technological achievements that countries around the world have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in research and development in the past decades. This is actually a kind of resource saving. In order to achieve this goal, Simon even does not hesitate to use various gray means.
Only when the integration is completed will the next step of research and development take place.
Now, even if SpaceX's first rocket is successfully launched, it is still a long way from the integration stage required by Simon. Simon feels that the integration stage should be truly and completely completed, at least it should end with another moon landing. plan.
Therefore, amidst the heated discussion in the media, at the SpaceX high-level meeting the next day, while giving affirmation, Simon's request was to keep up the good work.
The success of the first launch is enough to prove the stability of Falcon 1. Next, while performing commercial launches, is the development of recyclable rockets and heavy-lift rockets.
The latter is more important to Simon.
Because we have to move forward, move forward, and not stop to make money.
However, Simon was not stingy at all when it came to the rewards he deserved.
Last year, Merlin One passed the test and won a huge order. Simon gave a one-time bonus of 15 million US dollars. It was the same this time, with the same huge check of 15 million US dollars.
Not only that, Simon has also launched another plan to significantly increase the salary of SpaceX employees.
Previously, SpaceX’s salary was not high, only about 20 to 30% higher than the average salary of other organizations in the industry. This time, Simon directly set SpaceX’s starting salary at US$100,000.
In 1997, the average annual income of Americans was US$27,000, and the more accurate median income was only US$19,000, which is far less high than many people who yearn for the United States to treat it as paradise imagine.
Simon has set the starting annual salary of SpaceX at US$100,000, which is equivalent to the level of most corporate executives in the United States. Moreover, SpaceX also has no shortage of bonuses and equity awards for corporate executives.
Not only that, the key is 'starting salary'.
This means that as long as they can successfully join SpaceX, the most junior employees can receive an annual salary of US$100,000.
After the successful launch of Falcon 1, Gwen Shotwell took advantage of the media heat to announce recruitment information to the world through her Facebook page. As for the old employees who have been working at SpaceX for several years, they have been greatly promoted this time. After that, the annual salary is generally higher, with $150,000 or even $200,000 being commonplace.
This wasn't Simon's whim.
If you want a horse to run, you have to feed it. It couldn't be simpler.
Simon started thinking about it early.
If you want the 3G plan to succeed, it's okay if you talk about your ideals with others, but if you only talk about your ideals, you're acting like a hooligan.
Talking about money is still the most reliable.
More than ten or twenty years later, there is a common phenomenon in both the East and the West. The top talents and the brightest minds have either entered the financial circle represented by Wall Street and developed various financial services that make ordinary people dizzy. Products, various cut leeks. Or they are flocking to the world's top Internet companies such as FANNG, and the research is not about the future, but how to place advertisements more accurately, how to squeeze the delivery staff to the maximum, and so on.
As a result, little attention is paid to the various basic sciences that are vital to human development.
Ultimately, it's still a matter of money.
Because the financial circle and the Internet circle are more profitable, they will naturally attract more elites.
As for basic mathematics, physics, chemistry and other fields, even if it reaches Nobel Prize level, the Nobel Prize bonus is only a fraction of the year-end bonus of some financial technology company executives.
Naturally, no one would do it.
Simon is an elitist who believes that human progress is the result of the guidance of a few top elites.
However, the few here, as we are about to enter the 21st century, are no longer the same as at the Solvay Conference at the beginning of this century. A group of top scientists in a photo almost changed the future of mankind.
In the new era, research in various basic fields is a huge project, such as the sequencing of the human genome, and the construction of a particle collider that is tens or hundreds of kilometers long. All these require not only Einstein It requires the guidance of pioneering top elites like Marie Curie and a large number of relatively ordinary elites to participate in practice.
Relatively ordinary elites may have far better minds than ordinary people, but they are still human after all.
Simon can't expect these people to cut off their emotions and pursue the lofty ideals of mankind. Since they can't talk about ideals, talking about money is of course the most reliable.
So SpaceX's pay raise is just the beginning.
Next, Simon will adopt high-tech strategies in all aspects of the 3G plan. US$100,000 may be a lifelong goal for most salarymen, but as long as it can enter the 3G plan sequence of the Westeros system, it will only be A start.
1 million, 10 million, or even 100 million US dollars.
As long as there is corresponding value, Simon will not be stingy.
The successful launch of Falcon 1 on April 16 caused a media uproar that lasted for a full week. SpaceX also released the launch video of the rocket on YouTube the next day. At the same time, it was sent into space by Falcon 1. The iBerry-10 Ultra mobile phone in space has once again become the focus of heated discussion in the media.
A mere US$6 million launch would have a marketing effect no less than US$60 million in advertising for Tinker Bayer’s iBerry series.
After Tinker Bayer decisively paid the SpaceX team a sum of money, he directly booked the marketing bundle for the next launch. Of course, he will not launch mobile phone models again. However, Tinker Bayer provides some detailed technical support, such as this The Falcon 1 body-worn camera actually comes from Tinker Bayer's laboratory, and we will definitely cooperate next time.
Simon doesn't care about Tinker Bayer, but on SpaceX's side, with the successful launch of Falcon 1, the price of 15 million US dollars per time, even though the cost for Tinker Bayer is simply a bargain, it still attracted a large number of cooperation applications. .
Simon had to suppress it.
Again, the core goal of SpaceX is to move forward and move forward, rather than stopping to make money.