贝佐斯拓展太空事业 斥2亿美元建火箭基地

Blue Origin, a secretive rocket company started byJeffrey P. Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon,made a splashy public announcement on Tuesday, saying it will build rockets and send them toorbit from Florida.

蓝色起源(Blue Origin)是一家行事低调的火箭公司，由亚马逊首席执行官杰弗里·P·贝佐斯(Jeffrey P. Bezos)建立。本周二，它发布了一则引人瞩目的公告，表示将建造火箭，并在佛罗里达州把它们送入轨道。

Blue Origin has leased Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the historicstarting point for 145 launchings including those of NASA’s Pioneer 10, the first spacecraft tovisit Jupiter, and Surveyor 1, the first craft to land softly on the moon.

蓝色起源已租用了卡纳维拉尔角空军基地的36号发射设施(Launch Complex 36)。这个具有历史意义的发射中心进行过145次发射，包括美国航空航天局(NASA)第一艘造访木星的飞船“先驱者10号(Pioneer 10)，以及第一艘在月球上软着落的飞船“测量员1号(Surveyor 1)都是在这里发射的。

But Launch Complex 36 has sat idle for a decade. “Too long, Mr. Bezos said. “We can’t waitto fix that.

但是它已经闲置了十年之久。“太久了，贝佐斯说。“我们迫不及待地修缮一下。

Blue Origin will also open a factory nearby. “We’re not just launching from here, Mr. Bezossaid. “We’re building here.

蓝色起源还将在附近开设一家工厂。“我们不只是在这里发射火箭，贝佐斯说。“我们还要在这里建造火箭。

The company will invest $200 million and create 330 jobs, officials said.

该公司将投资2亿美元，创造330个就业机会，官员说。

It is the latest effort to revive Florida’s Space Coast, which was economically battered afterNASA stopped flying the space shuttles in 2011. Space Exploration Technologies Corporation,or SpaceX, the rocket company started by Elon Musk, and the United Launch Alliance, a jointventure between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, already use nearby launching pads at CapeCanaveral.

这是振兴佛罗里达太空海岸的最新努力，NASA在2011年停飞航天飞机，让该地经济遭受重创。埃隆·马斯克(Elon Musk)创办的火箭公司太空探索技术公司(Space Exploration Technologies Corporation，简称SpaceX)，以及波音(Boeing)和洛克希德·马丁(Lockheed Martin)合资成立的联合发射联盟公司(UnitedLaunch Alliance)，已经在卡纳维拉尔角使用了附近的发射台。

In the past, Blue Origin, based in Kent, Wash., south of Seattle, has sometimes waited days ormonths to mention successes or failures. Mr. Bezos provided brief updates on Blue Origin’swebsite.

蓝色起源总部设在西雅图以南的华盛顿州肯特市，以前它有时会隔几天或几个月，才发布成功或失败的消息。贝佐斯会在蓝色起源的网站简要地介绍最新情况。

But even now, exactly what Blue Origin plans to launch from Cape Canaveral remains somewhatmysterious.

但即使到现在，蓝色起源计划从卡纳维拉尔角发射升空的火箭到底是什么样的，也依然有些神秘。

The rocket, still unnamed, will be large enough to reach orbit, and it will debut later thisdecade, Mr. Bezos said. But he did not give specifics about which markets he is aiming for. “We’re building a vehicle for humans, Mr. Bezos said in a telephone interview. “That’s mypersonal passion.

这枚火箭尚未命名，体量大到足以进入轨道，它将在2010年代的晚些时候亮相，贝佐斯说。但他没有提到它具体针对哪个市场。“我们正在为人类打造一艘运载工具，贝佐斯在电话采访中说。“我本人对此很有热情。

But such a rocket “can clearly lift payloads of all kinds, he said.

但是，这样的火箭“显然适用于各类载荷，他说。

The first stage of the rocket is to be fully reusable — landing vertically back on Earth — unlikemost rockets today, which crash back to Earth after one flight.

这种火箭的第一级可以完全重复使用，它会垂直降落到地球上。如今的大多数火箭都与它不同，使用一次后就会坠毁到地球上。

That approach is similar to SpaceX’s attempts to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on afloating platform, a first step to refurbishing and reflying it. Blue Origin had patented thebarge landing idea, but SpaceX successfully challenged the patent, and Blue Origin has sincegiven up on the claim.

这种方式与SpaceX试图让猎鹰9号(Falcon 9)的一级火箭在浮动平台上着陆的做法类似，着陆是对火箭进行翻新、再次飞行的第一步。蓝色起源对驳船着陆的设想申请了专利，但SpaceX成功地挑战了这一专利权，随后蓝色起源放弃了专利。

Blue Origin lost another skirmish with SpaceX last year in the bidding to take over one of twolaunch pads at the Kennedy Space Center that NASA used for the space shuttles. After thatsetback, Blue Origin looked at options in five states before deciding on Launch Complex 36.

去年，蓝色起源与SpaceX竞标NASA在肯尼迪航天中心(Kennedy Space Center)用于发射航天飞机的两个发射台之一，蓝色起源最后落败。经历这一挫折后，蓝色起源考虑了位于五个州的发射台，最终选中了36号发射设施。

In April, Blue Origin completed the first test flight of its New Shepard spacecraft, acceleratingpast three times the speed of sound to reach an altitude of 307,000 feet above a testing sitein West Texas. The capsule, without any passengers, separated and parachuted gently to theground. The booster, designed to land back on the ground, crashed because of a malfunction inthe hydraulic system. New Shepard, which is to take tourists on suborbital jaunts, will continueto launch from Texas.

今年4月，蓝色起源完成了“新谢帕德号(New Shepard)飞行器的首次试飞，在德克萨斯州西部的一处测试场地，以超过三倍音素的速度升至30.7万英尺(约9.3万米)的高度。当时并未搭载乘客的太空舱最终分离，轻轻降落到地面。由于液压系统出现故障，原本应该返回地面的助推器坠毁。搭载游客开展亚轨道之旅的新谢帕德号将会继续从德克萨斯州发射。

At the end of his remarks on Tuesday, Mr. Bezos looked to the future. “I don’t know how longthis will take, Mr. Bezos said, “but one day I look forward to having a press conference withyou guys in space.

周二，贝佐斯的评论以对未来的展望而收尾。“我不知道需要多长时间，贝佐斯说。“但我希望有一天能在太空与你们召开资讯发布会。