The ascending track then extended outward from the tangent of the outermost ring. Its vertical lift section was built against a mountain peak and stretched upward, with a total length of roughly eighty kilometers.
The bottom of the Orbital Ascent Section was supported by enormous reinforced concrete pillars that rose in stages, like columns holding up the heavens.
As far as the eye could see, as the Electromagnetic Track gradually climbed, the support pillars changed from vertical to increasingly angled. They went from a single pillar to two side by side, then three crisscrossing angled supports, before finally becoming the vertical section supported by the mountain.
This design was mainly intended to offset the immense pressure generated as the Spaceplane transitioned from level ground to vertical ascent. Without a doubt, the track's spiral rise from the ground into a gradual vertical climb showed that it had been designed specifically for Manned Space Travel.
Such an extensive track and complex ascent curve were mainly designed around the limits of human acceleration tolerance, ensuring that the acceleration generated during launch did not exceed the 6 Gs an average person could withstand.
Besides the manned track used to launch Spaceplanes, there were also four Electromagnetic Tracks for launching cargo. These tracks were distributed on both sides of the circular ground section of the manned track, with four on each side.
Compared to the manned track, the Cargo Tracks were much simpler in design.
Since they did not need to account for Gravitational Acceleration, the Cargo Tracks were much shorter. They consisted only of a straight ground section and an upward-curving section, using a simple and brutal approach—Miracles Through Brute Force—to launch cargo spacecraft like Electromagnetic Cannons. After leaving the Electromagnetic Track, the spacecraft's own fuel provided auxiliary thrust to overcome air resistance and maintain speed. Once they reached their intended orbit, the spacecraft used their own fuel for Attitude Adjustment as well.
Though short, even the shortest track had a total length of seven kilometers.
Clearly, the four cargo Electromagnetic Tracks were not all the same length. Their differing lengths were primarily meant for transporting different types of cargo.
Put simply, the greater the acceleration a piece of cargo could withstand, the shorter the delivery track it was suited for; conversely, the lower its tolerance, the longer the track.
Take this shortest Electromagnetic Track, for instance. At seven kilometers long, a simple calculation showed that cargo launched into space through it would have to endure roughly 450 Gs of acceleration.
In fact, humanity could now easily use Electromagnetic Cannons to accelerate shells beyond 60,000 g. But cargo was not artillery shells. Not only was it heavier, but excessive acceleration could crush some types of cargo.
And due to the nature of Electromagnetic Track acceleration, cargo was accelerated by Electromagnetic Force only while it remained on the track. Therefore, an object had to be pushed from rest to First Cosmic Velocity while still on the track.
This required the track to use Magnetic Levitation. Otherwise, if there were physical contact, the frictional heat generated by a single launch at such speeds would be enough to melt either the track or the spacecraft.
From afar, the four Cargo Tracks and the single manned track resembled a giant loosely curling its hand and placing it on the ground. The five tracks looked like the five fingers of the Palm Buddha Country, appearing immensely grand and evoking a faintly mythical air.
Of course, because the manned track in the middle rose in an arc, sharp-eyed netizens often privately regarded it as a particularly prominent middle finger.
Yue Yuan occasionally saw comments calling it the "Finger Piercing the Sky" beneath promotional videos for the Orbital Mass Accelerator.
It had to be said that no matter the era, comment sections were always places where gods hid.
At that moment, Yue Yuan received a message from Zhu Pete saying that the luggage check-in procedures had been completed and the Boarding Passes had been obtained.
After replying that he understood, Yue Yuan headed with his two bodyguards toward the ready Spaceplane Boarding Gate to meet Zhu Pete.
The Spaceplane looked similar to an airplane, but to reduce launch resistance, its wings had been designed to fold back. During launch, they folded up like cicada wings.
To match the Orbital Mass Accelerator, an Electromagnetic Base had been installed in the Spaceplane's belly, while the landing wheels were currently retracted inside the fuselage.
Before takeoff, the Spaceplane was fixed onto the Electromagnetic Track. From the outside, it partially enclosed the track, as though the track pierced through it from below, allowing it to slide steadily along the rail.
Yue Yuan accepted the Boarding Pass Zhu Pete had arranged and entered the cabin.
Since he had bought First Class, there was much less noise this time.
There were eight seats in First Class. Upon entering, Yue Yuan found that the other seats were already occupied. He swept his gaze over them and saw that the remaining four passengers consisted of two men and two women. From their sparse conversation, he could tell that they were likely a married couple and a young couple.
The husband had a Slicked-back Hairstyle, and the bridge of his nose between his eyes was slightly indented. He was probably someone who wore glasses, though he had already taken them off.
Yue Yuan knew why. Spaceplane regulations prohibited passengers from wearing glasses from startup until they reached space, for safety reasons.
The man had taken off his glasses early. He seemed to be someone who followed the rules.
Judging by the woman's refined attire and the subjects she discussed, the married couple were probably businesspeople.
As for the younger couple, the man had slightly curly black hair, black eyes set in deep sockets, and sharply defined features. He looked European, most likely Italian. His partner had long, straight black hair and large, watery eyes—a typical Asian face. She also spoke fluent Chinese, so she was probably Chinese.
Honestly, this era did not admire foreigners anymore; rather, the situation had reversed. Seeing such a pairing, Yue Yuan found it a little strange.
From their conversation, Yue Yuan vaguely caught words like Artemis. They were probably headed for the Moon Artemis Base.
By this point in the development of space exploration, humanity had built quite a few extraterrestrial bases. Thus, besides Research Personnel, many ordinary people lived in those bases as well, whether for work or tourism.
Since the Tiangong Space Station had become a Relay Station in this era, those who generally took Spaceplanes into space were headed for the Moon or Mars.
Yue Yuan's group of four did not speak much. They merely nodded politely before taking their respective seats.
Before long, an in-flight announcement sounded through the cabin. "Dear passengers, hello. Welcome aboard this spaceflight. I am your captain. I will now introduce the details of this flight."
"This flight number is Shenzhou KT666. Departure time is 16:30 Beijing Time. The destination is the Tiangong Space Station. Estimated Electromagnetic Track In-Orbit Acceleration Time: 102 seconds. Spaceplane engine-assisted acceleration time: 190 seconds. Rendezvous and Docking Time: 3 hours and 40 minutes."
Like cargo craft, the manned track also required the spacecraft's own fuel for additional thrust. This was because, after leaving the acceleration track, which was roughly three hundred kilometers long, the spacecraft would already be moving very fast but would still be within the atmosphere. It had to keep accelerating with its own fuel; otherwise, air resistance would cause it to stall and crash to the ground.
Of course, it would be ideal if the manned spacecraft could be accelerated beyond First Cosmic Velocity while still on the track. But that would require an even longer track. To keep the acceleration below 6 Gs, the total length would probably need to reach six hundred kilometers.
Thus, from the data given in this flight introduction, one could roughly calculate that the Spaceplane would be accelerated to around six kilometers per second on the track, then use its own fuel to accelerate from six kilometers per second to 7.9 kilometers per second at the same rate. This process would take 190 seconds.
During those 190 seconds, the Spaceplane would arc across Earth's skies, travel 2,223 kilometers, and enter the designated orbit for docking with the Tiangong Space Station.
After that came a full 3 hours and 40 minutes of Attitude Adjustment, orbital docking, and other procedures.
This revealed the shortcomings of the Orbital Mass Accelerator.
That was why the best solution for sending large numbers of people into space was actually a Space Elevator. Unfortunately, humanity had yet to master materials capable of supporting the construction of a Space Elevator, so they could only settle for the Orbital Mass Accelerator, whose construction technology and material requirements were already achievable.
If it were used only for cargo transport, the Orbital Mass Accelerator was not bad at all. Still, even with its drawbacks plainly visible, it was far superior to Traditional Chemical Rocket Propulsion.
All large-scale construction in space depended on it.
Before you continue