The loss of such a high-performance space shuttle in a single experint was simply too heartbreaking, and the ti and effort required to build a new one were significant.
Therefore, Zheng Long offered a different opinion, "As far as I know, Yixing also has a shuttle that has conducted Mars exploration missions, which should also et the experintal requirents, right?"
Zhao Yi nodded and said, "Yixing’s shuttle could work, but this is not Yixing’s project."
He was very straightforward.
Since Yixing is a comrcially operating company, it would not be feasible to sacrifice one of its highly valuable shuttles for basic theoretical research.
One issue here is that technology developed from basic theoretical research may not entirely belong to him or to Yixing.
The theoretical group is a research and developnt group of the Science and Technology Departnt.
No matter what type of technology is developed, even if it’s the latest in the field with classified applications, the principal ownership would be national. For this reason, using Yixing’s shuttle for the experints simply made no sense.
Zheng Long, of course, understood this point too. He said with a smile, "Mr. Zhao, you’ve misunderstood . What I actually an is that the country could fund the purchase of Yixing’s shuttle and use it directly for the experint."
He stood up and said to the others, "Our newly built shuttle is very high-end, with better performance than the Mars-1. It would be a sha to damage it in an experint. As for the Mars-1, having completed its Mars exploration tasks, it’s up-front; it has no other assignnts and would require certain upgrades before further use, making it perfect for the experint."
"Therefore, we could fund the purchase of Yixing’s shuttle, and I believe Yixing wouldn’t refuse."
Of course, they wouldn’t refuse, provided that the price was right.
Zhao Yi was aware of the manufacturing cost of the Mars-1, which was roughly around five billion yuan.
The Aerospace Bureau was clear on this too.
Thus, it was decided in the eting that the Aerospace Bureau and Yixing would negotiate the purchase of the Mars-1 shuttle and then refit it for the upcoming experint.
After the eting ended, Zheng Long and Zhao Yi walked out shoulder to shoulder, and Zheng Long whispered, "Academician Zhao, the cost of your shuttle is about five billion yuan, right? As for the price for the experint—"
He didn’t finish his sentence, but the implication was clear; he wanted to negotiate the price.
Zhao Yi shook his head and said, "Yixing and the Aerospace Bureau often collaborate, so we’re old acquaintances, friends, right?"
Zheng Long nodded, puzzled.
Zhao Yi continued, "As friends, we certainly won’t rip you off. Besides, Yixing and the Aerospace Bureau will surely have many more collaborations in the future, with much technological interaction and business dealings."
"So the specific price of the shuttle must still be discussed. The Mars-1’s manufacturing cost is indeed five billion yuan, but the selling price will certainly be higher since the Mars-1 has completed exploration missions, proving its safety, reliability, and stability."
"I won’t participate in this negotiation, but I estimate that the selling price should be under a hundred billion yuan, mainly because the Mars-1 is not essential to Yixing at the mont, and it has no pending missions."
"However, rest assured," Zhao Yi added.
"The Aerospace Bureau won’t necessarily lose out on the purchase, because the probability of significant safety risks occurring in this experint is very low."
"Although we’ve talked about it quite gravely, it’s only because there’s a chance, but it’s not a high probability."
"The Mars-1 will be fitted with compression materials inside, which ans even if there’s a minor explosion like the last ti, with the space shield in place, it won’t cause major damage. So at the end of the experint, there’s a very high chance that the Mars-1 could return to Earth normally."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Long felt a sudden surge of joy and then imdiately asked, "I thought that once the experint was done, it definitely wouldn’t be coming back, but it’s like this, huh! Academician Zhao, how high do you think the probability of return is?"
Zhao Yi hesitated a mont before saying, "I can’t guarantee it, it’s hard to say."
"How about this then," he suggested.
"What’s that?"
"We could sign an agreent with Yixing, stipulating that if the experint damages the shuttle, Yixing will provide appropriate compensation, and we can negotiate a normal selling price."
"That’s a good idea!" Zheng Long was imdiately satisfied.
If an accident occurred during the experint, preventing the shuttle from returning normally, so financial compensation could still sowhat mitigate the loss.
Otherwise, buying Yixing’s shuttle would definitely not be a loss!
Although the cost of manufacturing was only five billion yuan, the performance of the shuttle was excellent. Having completed missions, its safety and stability were assured, and even a purchase price of one hundred billion yuan would be a good deal.
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