SpaceX fuels up its fourth Starship megarocket on May 20, 2024 in a prelaunch test. (Image credit: SpaceX via X)

SpaceX just fueled up its giant Starship rocket, checking another box ahead of the vehicle's fourth test flight.

SpaceX 於 2024 年 5 月 20 日在發射前測試中為其第四艘 Starship 巨型火箭加註燃料。 （圖片來源：SpaceX via X）SpaceX 剛剛為其巨型 Starship 火箭加滿了燃料，在車輛第四次試飛前檢查了另一個盒子。

The company performed a "wet dress rehearsal" with Starship at its Starbase site in South Texas today (May 20), filling both of the vehicle's stages with supercold liquid oxygen and liquid methane in a key prelaunch test.

今天（5 月20 日），該公司在德克薩斯州南部的Starbase 基地與Starship 進行了一次“濕裝彩排”，在一項關鍵的發射前測試中，在飛行器的兩個階段都充滿了超冷液態氧和液態甲烷。

"Launch rehearsal for Flight 4 complete," SpaceX said in a post on X today, which also shared four photos of the procedure.

SpaceX 今天在 X 上發文稱，“4 號航班的發射排練已經完成”，該帖子還分享了四張發射過程的照片。

Starship's Super Heavy first stage gets frosty white thanks to the flow of supercold propellants during a fueling test on May 20, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX via X)

2024 年 5 月 20 日的加油測試期間，由於超冷推進劑的流動，星際飛船的超重型第一級變得霜白色。

SpaceX is developing Starship to help humanity settle the moon and Mars, among other ambitious tasks. And the company already has customers lined up. A few years ago, for instance, NASA selected Starship as the first crewed lander for its Artemis program of lunar exploration.

SpaceX 正在開發星際飛船，以幫助人類登陸月球和火星，以及其他雄心勃勃的任務。而且該公司已經有顧客在排隊了。例如，幾年前，美國太空總署選擇星際飛船作為其阿耳忒彌斯月球探索計畫的第一個載人登陸器。

The vehicle consists of two stainless-steel stages, both of which are designed to be fully reusable: a huge booster called Super Heavy and a 165-foot-tall (50 meters) spacecraft known as Starship, or simply "Ship."

該飛行器由兩個不銹鋼級組成，兩者都被設計為完全可重複使用：一個名為Super Heavy 的巨大助推器和一個165 英尺高（50 公尺）的航天器，稱為Starship，或簡稱「Ship」。

When these two stages are stacked, Starship stands about 400 feet (122 meters) tall — higher than any rocket ever built. It's also the most powerful launcher in history, boasting about 16.7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. That's nearly twice as much thrust as NASA's Space Launch System moon rocket.

當這兩級堆疊在一起時，Starship 高度約為 400 英尺（122 公尺）——比有史以來建造的任何火箭都要高。它也是歷史上最強大的發射器，起飛時的推力約為 1,670 萬磅。這幾乎是美國太空總署太空發射系統月球火箭推力的兩倍。

That thrust comes courtesy of Super Heavy's 33 Raptor engines. Ship, for its part, is powered by six Raptors. The engines burn liquid oxygen and liquid methane, propellants that can be sourced on Mars, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has stressed.

這種推力來自 Super Heavy 的 33 台猛禽發動機。就其本身而言，這艘船由六架猛禽提供動力。 SpaceX 創辦人兼執行長馬斯克強調，這些引擎燃燒液態氧和液態甲烷，這些推進劑可以在火星上取得。

SpaceX aims to launch Starship again in early June. (Image credit: SpaceX via X)

SpaceX 計劃在 6 月初再次發射 Starship。 （圖片來源：SpaceX via X）

Starship has flown three times to date, in April 2023, November 2023 and March 14 of this year. 

迄今為止，Starship 已於 2023 年 4 月、2023 年 11 月和今年 3 月 14 日進行了三次飛行。 

The debut flight didn't last long; Starship's two stages failed to separate, and SpaceX detonated the vehicle intentionally four minutes after launch. Starship achieved stage separation on flight two, which lasted twice as long. Flight three was even better, coming to an end about 50 minutes after liftoff when Ship broke apart upon reentry to Earth's atmosphere.

首飛並沒有持續多久； Starship 的兩級未能分離，SpaceX 在發射四分鐘後故意引爆了飛船。星艦在第二次飛行中實現了階段分離，持續時間是原來的兩倍。第三次飛行甚至更好，在升空後約 50 分鐘結束，太空船在重返地球大氣層時解體。

The main goal of the upcoming flight four "is getting through max reentry heating," Musk said via X today.

馬斯克今天透過 X 表示，即將進行的四號航班的主要目標「是透過最大的再入加熱」。

SpaceX aims to launch flight four in about two weeks, he added in the X post. However, the timing may not be entirely up to the company.

他在 X 貼文中補充道，SpaceX 的目標是在大約兩週內發射第四次飛行。不過，具體時間可能不完全由公司決定。

SpaceX has applied for a Starship launch license modification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), for example, a request that is apparently still pending. The FAA is also overseeing an investigation into what happened on Starship's third flight. 

例如，SpaceX 已向美國聯邦航空管理局 (FAA) 申請修改星艦發射許可證，但該請求顯然仍在等待中。美國聯邦航空局也正在監督星艦第三次飛行事件的調查。