马斯克的SpaceX将成为全球最大的卫星公司

SpaceX on Saturday fired up the rocket that will ferry the company's next batch of Starlink satellites into space.

周六SpaceX公司发射的火箭将把该公司的下一批互联网卫星送入太空。

The company conducted a static-fire test on Saturday (Jan. 4) of a Falcon 9 rocket at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the company said on Twitter. That rocket is expected to send 60 Starlink internet satellites into space no earlier than Monday (Jan. 6), marking the first launch of the year from Florida's Space Coast.

该公司在推特上说，周六（1月4日）进行了“猎鹰”9火箭静态点火测试，测试地点位于佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角空军基地40号航天发射复合体。这枚火箭预计最早会在周一（1月6日）将60颗互联网卫星送入太空，在佛罗里达州的太空海岸进行本年度第一次发射。

The Falcon 9 rocket out of its hangar on Friday (Jan. 3) and went vertical on the launch pad in advance of the planned test-firing of its nine first stage engines on Saturday. The two-stage rocket is scheduled for liftoff Monday at 9:19 p.m. EST (0219 GMT Tuesday).

“猎鹰”9火箭周五（1月3日）离开飞机库，在周六九个一级引擎点火测试的计划时间之前提前竖立在发射台上。二级火箭预计于美国东部时间星期一晚上9:19（格林尼治标准时间周二2:19）升空。

But before it can launch, SpaceX put the vehicle through a routine launch rehearsal. The brief test, known as a static-fire test, is a standard part of prelaunch procedures and one of the last major milestones before liftoff. During the test, teams loaded the Falcon’s super-chilled propellants — kerosene and liquid oxygen — into the rocket before igniting the first stage’s nine Merlin 1D engines.

但发射之前，SpaceX公司让飞行器进行例行发射演习。这个简单的测试被称为静态点火测试，是发射前的标准程序，也是升空前最后阶段的关键部分。团队在测试时会将“猎鹰”的超冷推进剂——煤油和液态氧注入火箭，然后点燃第一级的九个“梅林1D”发动机。

The engines briefly fired at 12 p.m. EST (1700 GMT), generating more than 1 million pounds of thrust while the booster remained firmly on the ground. Engineers reviewed the data before deciding to proceed with the Falcon 9’s planned launch attempt Monday evening.

这些发动机在美国东部时间中午12点（格林尼治标准时间17点）的短暂发射会产生超过100万磅的推力，而助推器则稳稳地留在地面上。工程师检查了数据，然后决定将“猎鹰”9火箭的计划发射时间定于周一晚上。

"Static fire complete — targeting Monday, January 6 at 9:19 p.m. EST for launch of 60 Starlink satellites from Pad 40 in Florida," SpaceX wrote on Twitter shortly after the test.

SpaceX在测试后立刻在推特上写道：“静态点火测试完成，下一步是在美国东部时间周一（1月6日）晚上9:19在佛罗里达州40号发射台发射60颗互联网卫星。”

The company launched its first group of 60 in May of last year, followed by an additional 60 in November, and plans for its burgeoning constellation to eventually be more than 40,000 satellites strong. Monday’s launch will bring the current number of satellites up to nearly 180, making Musk’s constellation the largest in orbit.

去年五月份该公司发射了第一批60颗卫星，接着又在11月份发射了60颗，计划使新兴卫星互联网星座的卫星总数最终超过40,000颗。周一的发射行动会使目前的卫星总数达到近180颗，马斯克的“星座计划”成为了轨道上最大的卫星项目。