Chapter 1092: The Great Expansion of Overseas Territories (Second update, two in one)
A map.
This is a world map. Different from ordinary maps, this world map is marked with several blue circles.
“Your Excellency, in order to ensure the smooth implementation of manned aviation missions, we need to set up multiple ground satellite measurement stations to complete the operation section, return section and orbit-retaining module of the spacecraft after it enters orbit. Maritime measurement and control communication mission.”
Standing in front of the map, Eugene Gesang introduced the locations of ground satellite measurement stations and their functions to Li Yian and others.
"Station No. 1 is located in Truk. After the separation of the ship and arrow, it will track and measure the spacecraft and provide the best possible measurement and control communication support as required.
Station No. 2 is located in British Guiana and will complete the tracking and orbiting of the spacecraft after it enters orbit. Measurement and control coverage, initial orbit and other data are injected to complete the spacecraft orbit change tracking and control, and complete the orbit change process of the early engineering measurement and control tasks.
Station 3 is located in British Nigeria and mainly completes the spacecraft adjustment. It controls the attitude, orbit return separation and return braking, calculates the initial orbit of the spacecraft after braking, and monitors the spacecraft attitude adjustment, separation, braking and return process.
Station 4 is located in British Kenya and organizes various measurement equipment. Capture and track targets in a timely manner to ensure the completion of tasks such as measurement and control of the arc specified in the mission plan. Station 5 is located in the Cocos Islands..."
When Eugene Gesang introduced these ground stations, Li Yian Then he looked at the data from ground satellite measurement stations.
The survey station in British Guiana covers an area of 130 square kilometers in the north, and the annual rent is 13,000 pounds.
The British Nigeria Survey Station is located on its southern coast, with an area of 45 square kilometers, and the annual rent is 5,000 pounds.
The British Kenya Survey Station is located on its southern coast, with an area of 227 square kilometers, and the annual rent is 20,000 pounds. Sterling, all measuring stations are leased for 99 years.
This was part of a manned aviation agreement with Britain - using British overseas colonies to establish overseas surveying stations.
The biggest feature of these measuring stations is that they are located along the coast, have a large area, and have coastal conditions to properly build a port.
In Li Yi'an's plan, these measuring stations will be used as comprehensive bases in the future, that is, they will be used for military purposes.
The military will gradually enrich the infrastructure of overseas surveying stations, from airports to ports, from material supply stations to real military bases. This is just a process.
“…For now, we have formed a satellite monitoring and control network covering the whole world.”
Listening to Eugene Gesang’s story, Li Yian put down the information in his hand and said.
“No, not around the world yet. I noticed that our ground stations are all near the equator. This obviously cannot meet all requirements. We must consider longer-term goals.
These measurement stations can meet the needs of satellite applications and manned spaceflight, but from the perspective of deep space exploration, just a few measurement stations are not enough. ”
“Deep space exploration? "
As the director of the Nanyang Aeronautics and Space Administration, Eugene Kelsang couldn't help but be surprised. They have no plan in this area yet.
"Yes, it is deep space exploration,"
Then Li Yian explained the importance of "deep space exploration"
"The so-called deep space exploration generally refers to the exploration that breaks away from the earth's gravitational field and enters the solar system space and the cosmic space. It mainly has two aspects:
First, in-depth detection of various planets in the solar system,
< br>The second is astronomical observation. Deep space exploration is of great significance. It can further answer questions about how the earth originated and evolved, how the planets and the solar system formed and evolved, whether humans are the only intelligent life in the universe, and what the future of the earth will be like. problem, and at the same time it is conducive to human beings’ active development and utilization of space resources.”
“In order to complete deep space exploration, we need to establish more ground stations, not only limited to the equator, but also scattered in the northern and southern hemispheres. For example, we should be in British Southwest Africa..."
That is to say, Namibia. Li Yian drew a circle on the Whale Bay in Namibia, and then on the enclave in northern Oman that guards the Strait of Hormuz. Draw a circle.
After thinking about it, I made another circle around the Falkland Islands, and finally, I took a rather regretful look at Newfoundland.
It is no longer a British colony. Otherwise, we would have to rent a piece of it. Now it is not easy to get it in Canadian hands...
"We need to rent a piece of land there. According to mission needs and development plans, large-scale measurement and control equipment will be installed in these areas, and large-scale deep space measurement and control stations will be established to provide measurement and control support for the next step of "flying to the moon". These areas will provide us with several aspects of global ground tracking and control. A vital node in the northern and southern hemispheres. "
This is of course for the aerospace industry, and it is definitely not military or territorial expansion. As for the territory, it is just a lease. The lease period of 99 years is not long. short.
“It’s a pity that there aren’t many suitable places to build measuring stations in the north.”
Nine times out of ten, the world is unsatisfactory. Although the British Empire has fallen, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. If these areas are taken down, at least part of them are taken down, a network of overseas bases that truly covers the world can be established. .
From the Pacific to the Atlantic, from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, and then to the mainland of Southeast Asia.
In another world, the Soviet Union spent decades and tens of billions of dollars in aid but had not yet established such a complete network of overseas bases across all continents and oceans.
But Nanyang, as a member of the Commonwealth, only needs to use the excuse of "developing the aerospace industry for all mankind" to obtain these bases. Where can I find such a cost-effective business!
Looking at the location marked on the map, Eugene Gesang thought for a while and said.
"Your Excellency, these locations are very sensitive. The British may not necessarily agree. Especially the Falkland Islands, which control merchant ships heading south around the Strait of Magellan. They are an important stronghold and guard important waterways in South America. The British will definitely not lease them. Ours.”
Although he is not a soldier, as long as he glances at the map, Eugene Gesang understands what you are thinking - these measuring stations are not just measuring stations.
"Just talk to them, the British..."
Li Yian smiled, it was such a troublemaker. For the British, when they realized that they could not hold on to something, When they give up, they will still plant some nails, and renting... is a disguised form of retention.
“They know how to choose. The Argentines have repeatedly brought the Falkland Islands to the United Nations. For the United Kingdom, complicating the ownership of the islands will be more beneficial to them. If they cannot win the entire Falkland Islands, In the words of the Crane Islands..."
Looking at the Falkland Islands on the map, Li Yian said. "The entire archipelago includes East Falkland Island and West Falkland Island. The capital of the archipelago is Stanley, located in East Falkland Island. West Falkland Island covers an area of more than 4,000 square kilometers. The population settled here is very small, and there may be With less than 100 people, we can rent this place for a 99-year lease, and the price is negotiable.”
The price is certainly negotiable, even though the place is now dependent on ships. Supplies and sheep breeding are the mainstay of the economy, but the Falkland Islands are still excellent fishing grounds. After entering the 1980s, selling fishing licenses became their main source of income, but what are the real treasures?
It’s oil!
Under the seabed around the Falkland Islands, there are approximately 60 billion barrels of crude oil stored, and the area is also rich in natural gas resources. And those oil and natural gas have always been the fundamental reason why Britain and Argentina have refused to give in.
Money moves people's hearts, and the country is no exception.
Although Britain fought a war for the Falkland Islands in the 1980s, which was considered the last glory of the British Empire, Britain could not hold on. It was even for this reason that in the Falkland Islands The UK has not been active in oil exploration and exploitation in the islands for fear of triggering a second Falkland Island War.
But it is Britain that is weak, not Nanyang.
After all, 60 billion barrels of oil is definitely an irresistible temptation, and Nanyang can still accept a fight for it.
So, there is no problem in leaving things that the British Empire cannot defend to Nanyang to defend!
However, it needs to be handed over to Nanyang first!
There is no problem even if it is rented, after all, there are not many locals in those places.
After 1999, the Tang people will become the mainstream of the local population. At that time, even if it is returned to the UK, it will still require the will of the local people, so leasing is just a process.
“We can talk first,”
Li Guoren, standing aside, said.
"When we negotiated with the UK for several other ground stations, the talks went very smoothly. This is just a few more places. They are all colonies. It's not a big deal. Anyway..."
Shrugged Lower your shoulders, he said.
“There are some places that they definitely cannot hold, like Oman. Two months ago, another anti-British rebellion broke out in Oman. Although it was inevitable that it would be suppressed by the British army on a large scale and fail.< br>
But based on the current situation, they will definitely evacuate in the future, so there should be no problem here. As for the Falkland Islands... there shouldn’t be a big problem!”
This is also true! This is where the British are most helpless right now - their rule around the world is being disintegrated bit by bit due to the opposition of local people and the encouragement of the United States and the Soviet Union.
What Nanyang needs now is just some meat and some soup when the British colonial empire is disintegrated.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As long as we seize this opportunity, Nanyang can own large overseas territories around the world.
Maybe it is just rented now, but in the future these places will become Nanyang land, there is no need to have any doubt about this.
"We are now helping them solve their troubles, and we must make them realize this."
Speaking of this, Li Yian turned his attention to Li Guoren and said.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should cooperate and try to take down these places."
Then they talked about some issues about the construction of maritime monitoring and control ships. After all, there is still a vast sea on the earth, and we just rely on the ground The measurement and control station cannot meet the demand. Only by cooperating with the Shanghai survey ship can we achieve 24-hour coverage of the measurement and control station in a true sense.
If there is no measurement and control ship, there will be several hours of measurement and control blind spots every day. To ensure continuous communication, maritime measurement and control ships must be deployed on the sea.
Nanyang’s space exploration network, which combines maritime measurement and control ships with measurement and control stations distributed around the world, will be networked to form a space exploration network in Nanyang, which will be used to support manned spaceflight in Nanyang and future manned moon landings and Mars exploration. and other deep space exploration missions. It even includes a series of space missions such as landing on Mars.
At the end, when Eugene Gesang put away the map, Li Yian asked again.
"Can we send our people into space this year?"
"At present, we have conducted two unmanned launch tests. Although some problems have been exposed, everything is progressing smoothly.
According to the plan, we will soon conduct the fourth unmanned launch, which is the last unmanned test. If nothing goes wrong, the launch mission should be completed as planned.”
Eugene Gesang's answer made Li Yian nodded slightly, and then asked again.
“How is the training of our astronauts now?”
"The training of the astronauts also went very smoothly. Everything went according to plan."
After learning that the training of the astronauts went smoothly, Li Yian thought for a while and asked again .
“In other words, we can send our people into space before December?”
“No problem at all!”
Eugene Ge After Sang answered, Li Yian asked about the progress of foreign countries, especially the United States. After learning that the United States had not conducted a public test launch, he said.
"It seems it's time to stimulate them! Really, the space race has begun, and everyone is so uninterested. Give them a boost."
The ones Li Yi'an refers to are of course the United States. and the Soviet Union. In his view, these two countries have invested too little in the space industry.
For now, their current performance simply does not have the fierce sense of competition that they had during the Cold War.
As far as the experience of the Cold War is concerned, investment in space can promote the development of human technology, unlike investment in armaments. After all, much of the investment in armaments is repetitive construction.
So, for the sake of the development of science and technology for all mankind, we still have to support them. We should encourage them appropriately.
(End of this chapter)