Late at night, at the experimental launch site of the Haizhou Air Force Base.
The testing grounds blazed with lights, a colossal creation towering within them, pointed at the sky.
Warning lights flashed, and a voice from the control room echoed over the loudspeakers:
"Five... four... three... two... one..."
"—Ignition!"
Boom!
Flames erupted from the rocket as it soared out of the long night, hurtling toward the heavens.
It rapidly receded into the distance, soon becoming a star.
The official announcement arrived.
—The Storm Type 1 Navigation Satellite had launched successfully!
At the reception far away, where the launch was being broadcast live, cheers and applause rang out. Everyone beamed as they raised their glasses to Chen Xingzhou and the smiling Ji Jue beside him.
They celebrated another achievement, and the beginning of another enormous project!
Through the concerted efforts of every member of the Southeast Chamber of Commerce Alliance, the jointly developed navigation satellite had been designed, manufactured, and launched in a mere four months. It was nothing short of a miracle.
As astonishing as it sounded, in reality, it was simply the alliance's corporate giants putting their accumulated resources to work.
If they really had started from nothing, building factories and drawing up plans from scratch, never mind a year—even ten would not have been enough. But Ji Jue had rallied them, Chen Xingzhou had thrown his full support behind him, and the Southeast Chamber of Commerce Alliance had kept everything moving.
Renewed Glory already had a commercial rocket-launch business and the relevant patents. Di Tong already worked closely with the military on satellites. Torchlight directly contributed an orbital slot it had applied for years ago... and Ji Jue also held freshly issued licenses for launching and operating commercial satellites.
With the heavyweights joining forces, everyone brought their