WASHINGTON — NASA says SpaceX is on track to demonstrate in-space refueling of Starship next year, a critical technology for returning humans to the lunar surface using that vehicle.

華盛頓——美國國家航空暨太空總署 (NASA) 表示，SpaceX 預計在明年演示星際飛船的太空加油，這是使用該太空船將人類送回月球表面的關鍵技術。

Speaking to the NASA Advisory Council’s Human Exploration and Operations Committee April 26, Amit Kshatriya, NASA deputy associate administrator for the Moon to Mars Program, said SpaceX achieved one step towards refueling of Starship with a demonstration on the latest Starship test flight March 14.

4 月26 日，NASA 月球到火星計劃副副局長阿米特·剎帝利(Amit Kshatriya) 在NASA 諮詢委員會人類探索和運營委員會發表講話時表示，SpaceX 在3 月14 日進行的最新一次Starship 試飛在演示中，在Starship 加油方面邁出了一步。

During that flight, SpaceX performed an in-flight propellant transfer demonstration under a NASA Tipping Point contract awarded in 2020. SpaceX planned to transfer at least 10 metric tons of liquid oxygen from a header tank to the main tank within the Starship upper stage while in space.

在那次飛行中，SpaceX 根據 2020 年授予的 NASA Tipping Point 合約進行了飛行中推進劑轉移演示。

While SpaceX said the day of the flight that it performed the demonstration, neither the company nor NASA provided any updates since then. At the advisory committee meeting, though, Kshatriya said the test appeared to go well.

雖然 SpaceX 表示在飛行當天進行了演示，但此後該公司和 NASA 都沒有提供任何更新。不過，剎帝利在諮詢委員會會議上表示，測驗似乎進展順利。

“On Flight 3, they did an intertank transfer of cryogens, which was successful by all accounts,” he said, adding that analysis of the test is ongoing.

「在 3 號航班上，他們進行了冷凍劑的罐間轉移，從各方面來看都是成功的，」他說，並補充說測試分析正在進行中。

The next major milestone is a demonstration planned for 2025 where two Starships will dock in orbit, with one transferring propellants to the other. Plans for that have passed a flight system review, according to a slide he presented at the meeting, examining the overall mission architecture and key subsystems, among other topics.

下一個重要里程碑是計劃於 2025 年進行演示，屆時兩艘星際飛船將在軌道上停靠，其中一艘向另一艘傳送推進劑。根據他在會議上展示的幻燈片，該計劃已經通過了飛行系統審查，審查了整體任務架構和關鍵子系統等主題。

In that mission, a “target” Starship will launch first and go into orbit, followed three to four weeks later by a “chaser” Starship. The two vehicles will dock with the chaser transferring propellants to the target. After the demonstration, the two Starships will undock and deorbit.

在該任務中，一艘「目標」星艦將首先發射並進入軌道，三到四個星期後，一艘「追擊者」星艦將緊隨其後。兩輛車將與追蹤器對接，將推進劑傳輸到目標。演示結束後，兩艘星艦將脫離對接並脫離軌道。

Kshatriya said SpaceX has some work ahead of that test, including understanding the slosh of propellants in the tanks as Starship maneuvers as well as the amount of “settling thrust” needed once the vehicles are docked to ensure propellant flows between them.

Kshatriya 表示，SpaceX 在這次測試之前已經做了一些工作，包括了解 Starship 機動時儲罐中推進劑的晃動，以及車輛對接後確保推進劑在它們之間流動所需的「穩定推力」量。

A slide from Kshatriya’s presentation showing plans for the Starship propellant transfer demo.

剎帝利簡報中的幻燈片顯示了星艦推進劑轉移簡報計畫。

“The point of their flight test program before we do this is to make sure they fully understand the slosh dynamics, fully understand how the ullage is being maintained, what the settling thrust needs to be,” he said. “We’ve gone through it with them in terms of their plan for this. It’s a good plan.”

他說：“在我們這樣做之前，他們的飛行測試計劃的目的是確保他們充分了解晃動動力學，充分了解如何保持損耗，以及需要多少穩定推力。” 「我們已經與他們一起討論了他們的計劃。這是一個好計劃。

Propellant transfer technology is essential to SpaceX’s plans for Starship missions beyond low Earth orbit, including the Human Landing System (HLS) version of Starship that will be used to land astronauts on the moon starting with the Artemis 3 mission, currently scheduled for no earlier than September 2026. Multiple Starship launches will transfer propellant into a depot in low Earth orbit that will then be used to fuel the HLS Starship, sending it to the moon.

推進劑傳輸技術對於SpaceX 近地軌道以外的星艦任務計劃至關重要，其中包括人類著陸系統(HLS) 版本的星艦，該版本將用於從阿耳忒彌斯3 號任務開始將太空人送上月球，目前計畫不早於2026 年 9 月。

The exact number of refueling launches has been the subject of controversy, with estimates going as high as nearly 20. Kshatriya did not give a number of launches in his presentation, suggesting more work needs to be done to better understand the refueling process.

加油發射的確切數量一直存在爭議，估計高達近 20 次。

He said the company is working to understand factors like boiloff of propellants and leakage, as well as how much propellant can be effectively transferred from a Starship. “All of that is stuff that they know is in front of them, but all of that is stuff that’s in the plan to go characterize,” he said. “That will then derive the answer.”

他表示，該公司正在努力了解推進劑沸騰和洩漏等因素，以及可以從星際飛船中有效轉移多少推進劑。 「所有這些都是他們知道就在他們面前的東西，但所有這些都是計劃中要描述的東西，」他說。 “然後就會得出答案。”

The in-space propellant transfer test will be followed by an uncrewed demonstration mission of the HLS Starship, including fueling the vehicle and sending it to the moon for a landing. That mission will also feature an “ascent demo” not originally included in the plan, he said, to prove Starship can lift off the lunar surface.

在太空推進劑轉移測試之後，HLS 星艦將進行無人演示任務，包括為飛行器加油並將其送往月球著陸。他說，該任務還將進行最初未包含在計劃中的“上升演示”，以證明星艦可以從月球表面升空。

“Full & rapid reusability of booster & ship and orbital refilling of ship are the 2 fundamental technologies we aim to solve by the end of next year,” Elon Musk, chief executive of SpaceX, posted on social media April 26, responding to another post about Kshatriya’s presentation. “Those are the critical pieces necessary to make life multiplanetary.”

SpaceX 執行長馬斯克4 月26 日在社群媒體上回應另一則貼文時表示：「助推器和飛船的完全快速重複使用以及飛船的軌道再填充是我們計劃在明年年底前解決的兩項基本技術。 “這些是實現多行星生命所必需的關鍵部分。”