The Chaebol Who Flies From Space - Chapter 87



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The Tycoon Who Flies Into Space Episode 87

Episode 87: Spaceship Accident

Columbia exploded as it was coming down from the space station after completing its work. It lost contact with mission control as it entered the atmosphere.

He was a talent that was already predicted.

A hasty meeting was held. President McGovern, the head of Iridium Communications, flew to LA to attend the meeting.

For security reasons, I listened to President McGovern’s report from my office in my home.

President McGovern, who rushed to LA to report, also had a gloomy expression on his face.

After the accident, a wave of mourning swept across the United States.

“What is the situation when you return?”

“The NASA people were all so shocked that they couldn’t speak. After a long period of spacecraft operation without major accidents, a manned spacecraft accident occurred, killing all seven people. It’s hard to say this, but fortunately, our satellites are safe. Two satellites have already been put into place and are performing their duties.”

Director Kim In-young sighed as he looked at the Iridium communications satellite launch schedule.

“All additional launches scheduled will be delayed.”

“Additionally, the space shuttle launch is also likely to be delayed.”

“The launch of the remaining spare satellites will be delayed.”

“At this point, there is no telling when another shuttle will be launched. The work of building a shuttle will not begin again until the exact cause of the accident is fully analyzed. Discovery remains as a standby, but the burden of launching it is too great until we know the exact cause of Columbia’s accident.”

“Shouldn’t we also supply the space station?”

“Additional supplies to the space station will probably have to be delivered by spacecraft from Europe or Russia.”

The biggest problem facing the company was a spare satellite that was supposed to be loaded onto the next space shuttle launch.

“I think we’ll probably have to use a Russian or French spacecraft. There’s no telling when the American spacecraft will be launched again.”

As President McGovern said, America’s space industry came to a halt in an instant.

Because of the many casualties, all plans to build additional space shuttles were halted.

“What caused the Columbia accident?”

“So far, it appears that the radiator tiles were impacted during the launch. The impact received during entry caused the radiator tiles to fall, and the high heat generated on the outside melted the internal devices, causing an explosion.”

I heard that there were concerns about an accident even on the space station. Since repairs were impossible on the station, they had no choice but to force a return.

“That’s a real problem. It’s a space station in name only, but even if a defect is discovered, it’s impossible to repair the hull.”

“It’s a space station in name only, but in reality, it’s just a space experiment for long-term human residence. It’s still difficult to live up to its name.”

If there was a problem with the shuttle that was responsible for supplying the satellite, a contract for launching a satellite had to be signed with either the European Space Agency or the Russian Space Agency to supply additional satellites.

Ariane was a spacecraft launched by the European Space Agency in 1975. It has been responsible for launching half of the satellites to date, but since NASA was having problems, most of the satellite launch contracts were transferred to Ariane of the European Space Agency.

“What about Russia?”

“The Russian Federal Space Agency collapsed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Most of the specialists left, and there are hardly any people left now. In addition, the company that was in charge of the important engine is located in the independent Ukraine.”

As he said, the Russian Federal Space Agency was devastated and dysfunctional after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since Putin came to power, he has been trying to rebuild the space agency, but it has not been as easy as it sounds.

The related facilities were almost gone and there were only a few people left.

It was also painful that the state-owned rocket company Yuzhmash, located in Ukraine, broke away. The Zenit rocket engine was reputed to be the cheapest and most powerful.

But the Ukrainian government did not have the budget to cover space development.

The Russian government has also essentially given up on space development.

An idea occurred to me as I listened to President McGovern’s explanation.

“How about we take over Yuzmash on this occasion? Aren’t there going to be more than one or two satellites that Iridium Communications will be launching in the future?”

“Because it is a state-owned company, we don’t know how it will react in Ukraine. No matter how corrupt Russia is, if we were to acquire Yuzhmash, there would naturally be a negative reaction. However, the reason for pursuing the acquisition is clear! If an accident like this happens, it will be difficult to handle.”

Signing launch contracts with various companies was essential for Iridium Communications, as all of its plans to launch additional satellites this fall were scrapped.

Next year, 16 satellites were scheduled to be launched. Two years later, 72 satellites were planned to be launched.

This whole thing was delayed because of this accident.

I had no plans to expand my business for the time being, but I had no choice because of the sudden accident.

It seemed better to approach WD under the name of Yuzmash rather than the American company Iridium Communications.

“What if WD acquires YuzMash in Korea instead of Iridium Communications?”

President McGovern was lost in thought for a moment, perhaps because he had heard something unexpected.

“Hmm, it’s not a bad idea. If a Korean company approaches, Russia won’t react as nervously as we do. If we depend entirely on NASA for satellite launches like we do now, if there’s a problem, the schedule will get messed up. The European Space Agency will also have a hard time digesting all of our supplies right away.”

“Then, let’s create a team to acquire Yuzmash. Yuzmash, let’s acquire it as quickly as possible. Let’s use Ariane for the satellites to be launched this year. Contract regardless of price.”

President McGovern’s face, which had been dark about my decision, brightened up.

As orders poured in from all over, the launch price of the Ariane satellites would also go up.

After Chairman McGovern left, he instructed Director Kim In-young to help President McGovern form a team to acquire Yuzmash.

The secretarial office organization, which had been created but stagnant for a while due to lack of work, is now busy.

Over dinner that evening, the story of the Columbia disaster came up naturally.

The social atmosphere was gloomy because all you could hear on TV was talk about spaceships all day long.

“Space seems really dangerous. I heard that a total of 7 people died this time.”

“It’s not that dangerous. It’s just that the technology hasn’t kept up. The problem with the heat-dissipating tiles this time is that the technology hasn’t developed enough.”

“Why did you put tiles on the exterior walls so dangerously? Wouldn’t it be simpler to just make the exterior walls out of solid metal?”

“The hull of a spaceship has to withstand both high and low temperatures, so with the current level of technology, we don’t have the ability to produce special steel to make up the hull. If we were to attach lightweight ceramic tiles, there would inevitably be various problems.”

Jamie was very saddened to hear that the accident was caused by damaged tiles on the exterior wall.

“Can’t Yongwon make the spaceship stronger?”

“It’s possible. If we use the special steel we’re making now, we can prevent accidents like this.”

“really? ”

Jeongyeon, who had been quietly listening from the side, intervened.

“Brother, you can build a spaceship?”

“To be precise, it means that we have the technology to protect the outer wall of a spaceship with a single metal, like a submarine. If you asked me to build a spaceship right now, I couldn’t do it.”

Jeongyeon and Jamie opened their eyes wide at my words.

“If you have that kind of technology, why are you just sitting there? You need to build a proper spaceship quickly!”

I scratched my head at Jeongyeon’s words.

“What can I do? The US space program is a national project run by NASA, so there is no room for a foreigner like me to get involved.”

Even if I, a foreigner, were to propose a special steel for the hull, would the U.S. government readily accept it?

So far, the spacecraft has operated without any major problems even after installing ceramic tiles.

Now that the big accident has happened, there is room to make a suggestion.

The special steel developed by WD Shipbuilding for use in submarines was a material that could withstand extremely high temperatures and also extremely low temperatures.

It was a metal originally developed for use as a spaceship hull.

Additionally, since the work on building the Space Shuttle was halted, a proposal was made to use CS-07 special steel manufactured by WD instead of ceramic tiles on the outer walls of the Space Shuttle.

If passed, the outer hull of future space shuttles will be made of WD CS-07.

There were no problems in our own tests.

It was difficult to manufacture on a large scale. It was extremely expensive to manufacture because it required a lot of rare metals that were hard to find on Earth. It was more expensive to manufacture than to paint the outer wall of a spaceship with the same weight of gold.

I should have something left over too.

“So the next space shuttle will be safe?”

I thought about Jeongyeon’s question, but I couldn’t come up with an answer right away.

“The outer wall problem has been solved, but I don’t know if there are any problems with the internal components of the spaceship.”

“What is that!”

My sister grumbled.

“Although the spaceship looks simple, it contains very complex, cutting-edge technologies, so even where parts are procured is top secret. Even if there is a problem with a part, the outside world cannot know. Even the smallest screws need to be carefully inspected, but if NASA is pressed for budget and cannot properly inspect the quality of parts, the probability of problems occurring increases.”

Jeongyeon responded to my explanation indifferently. The spaceship wasn’t of much interest to Jeongyeon. She only showed interest for a moment because the accident was causing a stir in America.

Unlike Jeongyeon, Jamie’s reaction was different.

“Why don’t you take this opportunity to start a company that builds spaceships? This is the second accident, and NASA has too many problems.”

“If we acquire a Russian rocket company this time, we plan to build spaceships.”

“Really? You can build a space shuttle?”

“The Ukrainian company we’re trying to acquire is a famous rocket manufacturer. If we acquire it and remodel it, we can greatly reduce the potential for problems to arise.”

Modifying the Russian-made Zenit engine would have made it possible to develop a spacecraft with much better performance than what we have now. With improved fuel efficiency, there would be no need to go into space hanging on large fuel tanks as we do now.

A dream spaceship is created that takes off from a runway like an airplane, goes into space, and returns.

So I talked to Jamie for a long time about spaceship development.

My younger sister, who had been listening intently from the side, changed the subject because she found the spaceship story boring.

“Why did you just leave last time? When I got off work, you were already gone.”

Zhang Yilin came to my house, got drunk, and before he knew it, he had left for Washington to fit in with his schedule.

“What is Jangttageo?”

“They say in China, they call their older brother ‘Ttageo’. Since my older brother calls me ‘Hyeong’, I call him ‘Ttageo’.”

It wasn’t a wrong statement. If you pronounce it correctly, it becomes “ttakkui.”

“Why did you go so quickly?”

“I came to the U.S. because I had work to do in Washington. Even though Jang-hyung looks like a person who just plays around, he is still a company employee.”

“Wow! I’ve heard stories about college students who just play around and eat, but Jang Ttago is a company employee who just plays around and eats?”

I thought it would be fun to tell Jang Yi-rin what Jeong-yeon said.

“Even if that’s true, I gave you expensive gifts as your little sister, so it’s embarrassing to say something like that.”

“That’s true.”

Jeongyeon reacted coolly.

I came to LA in a rush to celebrate the engagement ceremony that I couldn’t attend. I stopped by and gave Jeongyeon and Jamie the gifts I had prepared.

Jang Eun-rin, who has a big heart, gave Jeong-yeon a Ferrari and Jamie a villa in Hawaii.

Jeongyeon rode the Ferrari 911 she received as a gift once and then left it in the garage.

“Why aren’t you driving the car you received as a gift?”

“I heard that Ferrari is famous, but when I actually rode one, there were many things that were very uncomfortable.”

Ferrari’s amenities didn’t keep up with those of other modern cars. In short, they were saying they didn’t like the gift.

“Then is there any other car you want?”

“I like Lamborghinis. Jamie has a Lamborghini. I drove one in the parking lot once and I liked it.”

“What color do you want?”

“I saw a white Lamborghini.”

Jeongyeon knew how I would react and took the lead.

I laughed, but I could change that to something lighter. So I decided to drive the Ferrari I received as a gift and buy my brother the white Lamborghini Murcielago he wanted.

We decided to visit the Hawaiian villa that Jamie received as a gift together after the engagement ceremony.

Jamie was very impressed with the spacious house in the photo. It was separated from the surrounding houses and free from outside gaze.