Chapter 1560 (1/2)

The completion ceremony of the space elevator started the next day.

More than a dozen cruise ships line up in the northern Galapagos archipelago, and people standing on the deck can have a clear view of the towering ladder.

The president of Ecuador stood on the deck and read a speech. He solemnly shook hands with Jiang Chen, chairman of Starlink trade, and signed his own name on the two agreements. Starting from today, the space elevator near the South American coast will be officially opened to traffic, taking on the synchronous orbit shipping business in the Western Hemisphere.

In the eyes of the public, the flag of the two countries and the flag of star ring trade were hoisted on the vertical train, which slowly accelerated to the sky and began its first opening journey. In order to celebrate this great moment, major cities in Ecuador also set off fireworks, and people sitting in front of the television opened the champagne, just like a festival to celebrate the new era of the continent.

”On behalf of the people of Ecuador, I thank you for all that you have done.” At the end of the completion ceremony, Ecuadorian president firmly grasped Jiang Chen's right hand and said in a sincere tone, ”I'd like to extend my high respect to you again. You will always be friends of the Ecuadorian people.”

The media from all over the world recorded this historic scene with the lens.

Starting today, freighters from the Mediterranean will not have to cross the Atlantic Ocean, across the Panama Canal, and then across the Pacific Ocean to the distant Panu islands. The ”port of machena” above the geostationary orbit will be used as the subsidiary port of the ring city to undertake the synchronous rail transportation business from the Western Hemisphere.

……

Three days after the completion ceremony, more than a dozen cruise ships were scattered on the sea. A private yacht is close to the island of machena, which is not far from the space elevator. There is a sentry tower and a small port on the island. Soldiers on duty can be seen from a distance.

Naturally, the nationality of those soldiers was not Ecuador, but a new country on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

According to the agreement between star ring trade and Ecuador, machena island will be leased to star ring trade for 50 years at a price of S $1 million. If there is no accident after 50 years, the contract will be automatically renewed for a period of 10 years.

The island, located in the northern part of the Galapagos archipelago, is close to the equatorial line. It covers an area of 130 square kilometers. There is basically no development on the island. There is no inhabitant on the island. There is only a solitary dead volcano. The surrounding sea area is deep, which is an excellent natural port and a natural scenic spot.

As early as the time of the new US war, the island was handed over to the new country from Ecuador. As a strategic fulcrum of the new country in South America, it provided supplies for submarines and Marines active in the waters around North America.

With the end of the new U.S. war, star ring trade also gradually withdrew from the island, and now only 50 people are left. They are mainly responsible for patrolling the sea area, maintaining the safety of the space elevator project, and cracking down on pirates.

”Very beautiful island.” Standing on the yacht, lodge squinted and said, ”it's a bit outrageous to be a military base.”

”The military base is only temporary. It will be more beautiful in two years.” Jiang Chen gave a faint smile. After a pause for a moment, he continued, ”we will build a floating island around this small island. First, we will expand its area by about ten times, and then move in the population to build it into Penglai City in South America, a free and open port.” The aluminum alloy and titanium materials needed for

to build floating islands can be obtained through space lift, especially aluminum foam, which needs to use rare earth alloy, and the output on the moon is considerable.

”Yes, then I must take it to heart.” Rocky said with a smile.

In fact, even without Jiang Chen's words, he was prepared early.

The nearby Galapagos Islands, such as Isabella Island, San Salvador Island and other islands, all idle land was bought by the Boston consortium as early as six months ago. Rocky's idea is simple: if machena will prosper with the arrival of ring trade, Isabella will just have to keep up with machena.