Chapter 198: Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry

Vehicle ICBM

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The system interface was indeed intriguing.

He had previously enhanced batteries, whether for drones or RVs, utilizing the system to improve their performance.

However, these two types of augmented batteries exhibited starkly different performances.

The drone batteries could be set aside for the moment.

The RV batteries were of the high-energy-density type that people typically imagined.

This time, it was the power system of an armed satellite that had been augmented.

The battery had received enhancements as well.

Yet, this particular enhanced battery was an Isotopic Thermoelectric battery.

Why was this so?

Tang Rui hypothesized that it had to do with the variance in items that were augmented.

In space, high-energy-density batteries were less desirable than thermoelectric batteries due to their differing principles.

Isotope thermoelectric batteries, known too as radioisotope thermoelectric generators, were capable of self-generated electricity.

It was an impressive concept.

However, their actual power generation capacity was quite minimal.

If the power output were too great, the device would no longer qualify as a battery but rather a nuclear reactor.

Tang Rui was familiar with this type of battery.

Its principle was rather simple: utilizing the Seebeck effect to transform the decay heat from radioactive nuclei directly into electricity.

The low power output stemmed from this.

The efficiency of the conversion device was particularly low, with a mere 6.7% conversion rate, wasting the remaining 93.3% of the energy.

Upon evaluating this battery, Tang Rui contemplated specifically enhancing the converter.

But after perusing the blueprint that day, he decided against it, as optimizing only the energy source would lead to an excessive overall performance, rendering it meaningless.

The armed satellite’s design was rather ingenious.

A large-scale radioisotope thermoelectric battery served as its core, paired with a multipolar transformer and a supercondenser.

The laser, when activated, drew its energy directly from the supercapacitor, not from the battery itself.

Enhancing the converters wouldn’t bolster the satellite’s firepower.

At best, it could only boost the charging speed of the armed satellites.

Moreover, the charge rate wasn’t of paramount importance since it wasn’t a necessity.

“Red Lotus, retain the design. Do not upload it to the database. Also, dispatch the earlier extracted design drawings to the researchers for their reference,” Tang Rui instructed after reviewing the blueprint.

“Understood, Master. What are our plans for this armed satellite?” Red Lotus inquired.

“For now, we’ll store the satellite and deploy it into outer space in two days,” replied Tang Rui with an air of nonchalance.

The most significant aspect of the enhanced armed satellite was the research value inherent in its laser system.

The multipoint resonance and the precision control of the laser system indicated the prospective R&D trajectory for laser weaponry.

The information from the multipolar resonant cavity and the laser energy storage resonance was invaluable.

Armed with this information, the second-generation laser weapons could be developed without fear of misdirection.

The armed satellite itself, however, fell short of his standards. With its singular laser weapon, its firepower was deemed inadequate.

Hence, his decision to set it aside, allowing two days before it would be placed in Earth’s orbit to accumulate experience points. Following sufficient accrual, a special enhancement would be performed.

By then, the blueprint for the laser weapon R&D for the third-generation armed satellite would be ready.

But there was no rush.

The third generation was still in its conceptual phase, earmarked for preliminary research.

His next step was to build an electromagnetic railgun-armed satellite to be stationed in the skies. After accruing enough experience, he would proceed with its upgrade and enhancement. Consequently, he would possess a design for the second generation of electromagnetic weaponry.

When he informed Professor Yu that the launched armed satellite was merely a test prototype, he had spoken truthfully.

To his mind, a bona fide armed satellite must be replete with various forms of armament.

Anything less would be unworthy of the term ‘equipment’.

As the robot trundled the enhanced armed satellite away, Tang Rui departed the assembly shop.

He returned to his lab.

There, Tang Rui resumed his endeavors on the liquid rocket engine.

His progress was promising; within two or three days at most, the production would be complete.

As time progressed, silence settled around him.

Elsewhere, the Americans reacted with considerable agitation, with their pricing structures escalating rapidly in recent days.

Their initial Starlink initiative could no longer be shrouded in secrecy.

His project was christened Starshield.

And so, the Falcon Rockets launched with increasing regularity, sending the Starshield satellites to take their places in the firmament.

This included a particular satellite, part of a series whose launches and assemblies had commenced.

Domestically, there was no similar urgency.

No rockets took to the skies.

Yet, this inactivity did not suggest inaction. A new communication satellite, fashioned as a prototype, had been completed.

Following terrestrial trials, Tang Rui’s space fighter was requisitioned to escort it to Earth’s orbit for further evaluations.

Thus, two frontrunners began their ascent with feverish determination.

Others could do nothing but cast their gazes skyward towards these trailblazers.

Lacking the necessary resources, they stood powerless.

This was not a free-for-all affair; it was a game dominated by those who had the means.

“Create joy with your salary; I lack the funds to join you in this pursuit…”

Of course, there were dissenters who clung to the belief that diligence could close the gap on those with deeper pockets.

Consider India.

Their dedication was no laughing matter.

The whispers spoke of significant breakthroughs.

By the month’s end, they planned a spacetime venture.

Upon the announcement from India, applause rang out.

Best wishes were extended.

Encouragements to persevere flowed freely.

Despite the tumult, Tang Rui remained unfazed.

On this particular day, as he affixed the final screw on the liquid rocket engine and a subdued light flickered, the construction was finalized.

A system interface promptly appeared.

[Item: Multi-aircraft Split Intercontinental Ballistic Missile]

[Experience: 0/0]

[Origin: 1692.48]

Tang Rui reviewed the system panel’s data and felt a flicker of amusement.

This was undeniably a launch vehicle, yet it was labeled as an intercontinental ballistic missile.

No matter.

The designation was trivial.

The device was not subject to upgrades, only enhancements.

The lack of warnings on the system panel signified that the rocket engine he had conceived and produced was without flaws.

It was a genuine product of his intellect.

Innovations were spawned from his mind, unreplicated, original.

That held substantial meaning.

“Red Lotus, move it to the launch shaft,” he directed.

“Certainly, Master,” the Al responded.

The towing robot conveyed the 30-meter-long rocket from the mountain’s confines.

Its emergence immediately commanded the attention of nearly everyone within the company.

It couldn’t be helped.

It stood markedly prominent.

As the towering rocket was positioned and secured within the launch shaft, Lin Chao, with hands trembling, made a call to his superiors.

The spectacle was, without a doubt, formidable..