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·马斯克的火箭制造公司SpaceX正准备再次发射其星际飞船，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.
发生了什么：SpaceX尚未获得监管部门对星际飞船第四次飞行测试的批准。但是，该公司周五宣布，如果获得批准，星际飞船可能在6月5日发射，发射窗口最早将在美国东部时间上午7点开放。
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.
星际飞船被吹捧为世界上最强大的运载火箭，高121米，重约5,000吨。它由两个阶段组成：星际飞船和超重型火箭。
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.
在即将到来的测试中，该公司的目标是实现超级重型助推器在墨西哥湾的软溅射，以及星际飞船在印度洋的受控重返和溅落。自上次飞行测试以来，SpaceX已经对星际飞船进行了软件和硬件升级，以实现这些目标。
"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.
该公司表示：“第四次飞行测试将我们的注意力从进入轨道转向证明返回和重复使用星际飞船和超级重型飞船的能力。”
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.
根据SpaceX的说法，联邦航空管理局必须确定在上次飞行测试期间没有对公共安全产生任何影响，然后才能为下一次飞行颁发许可证。
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
星际飞船的第四次飞行测试最快可能在6月5日启动，尚待监管部门批准 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."
马斯克谈火箭的可重复使用性：在谈到太空旅行中实现可重复使用的困难时，马斯克周六表示：“尽管国家/公司在80年中累计投入了约一万亿美元用于火箭开发，但这个问题没有得到解决是有原因的。”
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认为可重复使用的火箭对其任务至关重要，认为它们对于降低太空准入成本至关重要。该公司解释说，快速重复使用的太空运载火箭可以将太空旅行的成本降低一百倍，因为发射成本的很大一部分是制造火箭的费用。
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
尽管国家/公司在80年中累计投入了约一万亿美元用于火箭开发，但这个问题没有得到解决是有原因的
— 埃隆·马斯克 (@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.
为何重要：在3月14日星际飞船的上一次飞行测试中，该航天器在重返大气层时失去联系并分崩离析，而不是按计划坠入印度洋。在墨西哥湾实现软溅射之前，助推器也失去了联系。整个飞行持续了大约一个小时。
SpaceX launched the Starship twice last year — first in April and then in November.
SpaceX去年两次发射了星际飞船——第一次是在4月，然后在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.
作为阿耳忒弥斯计划的一部分，美国宇航局目前依靠星际飞船的成功使人类重返月球。最后一次载人登月任务发生在1972年的阿波罗17号。从那以后，没有机组人员飞越过低地轨道。
Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
点击此链接，查看更多Benzinga的《未来出行》报道。
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译文内容由第三方软件翻译。