Elon Musk's SpaceX Sets Date For Next Starship Launch, Awaits Regulatory Nod: Here's What It Mainly Wants To Achieve
Elon Musk's SpaceX Sets Date For Next Starship Launch, Awaits Regulatory Nod: Here's What It Mainly Wants To Achieve
Elon Musk's rocket manufacturing company, SpaceX, is preparing to launch its Starship again, possibly as soon as June 5.
埃隆·馬斯克的火箭製造公司SpaceX正準備再次發射其星際飛船，最快可能在6月5日。
What Happened: SpaceX has yet to receive regulatory approval for Starship's fourth flight test. However, if approved, the Starship could launch on June 5, with the launch window opening as early as 7 a.m. CT, the company announced on Friday.
發生了什麼：SpaceX尚未獲得監管部門對星際飛船第四次飛行測試的批准。但是，該公司週五宣佈，如果獲得批准，星際飛船可能在6月5日發射，發射窗口最早將在美國東部時間上午7點開放。
Starship is touted as the world's most powerful launch vehicle, standing 121 meters tall and weighing approximately 5,000 tonnes. It consists of two stages: the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy rocket.
星際飛船被吹捧爲世界上最強大的運載火箭，高121米，重約5,000噸。它由兩個階段組成：星際飛船和超重型火箭。
For the upcoming test, the company aims to achieve a soft splashdown of the Super Heavy booster in the Gulf of Mexico and a controlled re-entry and splashdown of the Starship in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX has implemented both software and hardware upgrades to Starship since its last flight test to meet these objectives.
在即將到來的測試中，該公司的目標是實現超級重型助推器在墨西哥灣的軟濺射，以及星際飛船在印度洋的受控重返和濺落。自上次飛行測試以來，SpaceX已經對星際飛船進行了軟件和硬件升級，以實現這些目標。
"The fourth flight test turns our focus from achieving orbit to demonstrating the ability to return and reuse Starship and Super Heavy," the company stated.
該公司表示：“第四次飛行測試將我們的注意力從進入軌道轉向證明返回和重複使用星際飛船和超級重型飛船的能力。”
The Federal Aviation Administration must determine there was no impact on public safety during the last flight test before issuing a license modification for the next flight, according to SpaceX.
根據SpaceX的說法，聯邦航空管理局必須確定在上次飛行測試期間沒有對公共安全產生任何影響，然後才能爲下一次飛行頒發許可證。
The fourth flight test of Starship could launch as soon as June 5, pending regulatory approval pic.twitter.com/2tv2s1yJ5F
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 24, 2024
星際飛船的第四次飛行測試最快可能在6月5日啓動，尚待監管部門批准 pic.twitter.com/2tv2s1YJ5F
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) 2024 年 5 月 24 日
Musk on Rocket Reusability: Addressing the difficulty of achieving reusability in space travel, Musk said on Saturday, "There is a reason it hasn't been solved, despite countries/companies pouring about a trillion dollars cumulatively into rocket development over 80 years."
馬斯克談火箭的可重複使用性：在談到太空旅行中實現可重複使用的困難時，馬斯克週六表示：“儘管國家/公司在80年中累計投入了約一萬億美元用於火箭開發，但這個問題沒有得到解決是有原因的。”
However, SpaceX considers reusable rockets essential to its mission, seeing them as crucial for reducing the cost of space access. A rapidly reusable space launch vehicle can lower the cost of traveling to space by a hundredfold, as a significant portion of launch costs is the expense of building the rocket, the company explains.
但是，SpaceX認爲可重複使用的火箭對其任務至關重要，認爲它們對於降低太空准入成本至關重要。該公司解釋說，快速重複使用的太空運載火箭可以將太空旅行的成本降低一百倍，因爲發射成本的很大一部分是製造火箭的費用。
There is a reason it hasn't been solved, despite countries/companies pouring about a trillion dollars cumulatively into rocket development over 80 years
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 25, 2024
儘管國家/公司在80年中累計投入了約一萬億美元用於火箭開發，但這個問題沒有得到解決是有原因的
— 埃隆·馬斯克 (@elonmusk) 2024 年 5 月 25 日
Why It Matters: During Starship's previous flight test on March 14, the spacecraft lost contact and broke apart while re-entering the atmosphere instead of splashing down in the Indian Ocean as planned. The booster also lost contact before achieving a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The entire flight lasted about an hour.
爲何重要：在3月14日星際飛船的上一次飛行測試中，該航天器在重返大氣層時失去聯繫並分崩離析，而不是按計劃墜入印度洋。在墨西哥灣實現軟濺射之前，助推器也失去了聯繫。整個飛行持續了大約一個小時。
SpaceX launched the Starship twice last year — first in April and then in November.
SpaceX去年兩次發射了星際飛船——第一次是在4月，然後在11月。
NASA is currently relying on the success of Starship to land humans back on the moon as part of its Artemis program. The last crewed lunar mission occurred in 1972 with Apollo 17. Since then, no crew has traveled beyond low-Earth orbit.
作爲阿耳忒彌斯計劃的一部分，美國宇航局目前依靠星際飛船的成功使人類重返月球。最後一次載人登月任務發生在1972年的阿波羅17號。從那以後，沒有機組人員飛越過低地軌道。
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譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。