Starship is a critical component in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon this decade

SpaceX’s next-generation rocket designed to transport humans to Mars is set to make a third attempt at reaching orbit as soon as February, according to SpaceX executive Jessica Jensen.

Jensen gave the updated timeline for Starship's next test flight at a press conference on Tuesday with NASA, where the agency delayed the schedule for its moon missions, Artemis II and Artemis III.

Designed to be fully reusable and carry as many as 100 people into space, Starship is a critical part of NASA's Artemis ambitions. It is currently pegged to help transport NASA astronauts from orbit to the moon's surface as part of the Artemis III mission, but so far, it has not made it to orbit. In its first two tests, it blew up — during the first, just minutes into the flight, and in the second, some fifteen minutes in.

星際飛船是NASA 十年內將人類送回月球計劃的關鍵組成部分，據SpaceX 高管傑西卡·詹森(Jessica Jensen) 稱，SpaceX 旨在將人類送上火星的下一代火箭預計將於2 月份進行第三次抵達軌道嘗試。週二，NASA 在新聞發布會上更新了Starship 下一次試飛的時間表，該機構推遲了阿耳忒彌斯II 和阿耳忒彌斯III 登月任務的時間表。 Starship 設計為完全可重複使用，可搭載多達100 人進入太空是美國太空總署阿耳忒彌斯計畫的重要組成部分。作為阿耳忒彌斯 III 任務的一部分，它目前預計將幫助美國太空總署太空人從軌道運送到月球表面，但到目前為止，它尚未進入軌道。在前兩次測試中，它爆炸了——第一次是在飛行後幾分鐘，第二次是在飛行後大約十五分鐘。

Speaking during the press conference, SpaceX Vice President of Customer Operations & Integration Jensen said Starship hopes to be ready to test Starship once more by the end of January and to receive the necessary license from federal authorities to do so by the end of February.

SpaceX 客戶營運與整合副總裁 Jensen 在新聞發布會上表示，Starship 希望在 1 月底之前做好再次測試 Starship 的準備，並在 2 月底之前獲得聯邦當局的必要許可。

NASA administrator Bill Nelson said on Tuesday that the agency had decided to delay Artemis II and III for safety reasons. As part of that, NASA officials said, was ensuring the safety of all the privately made spacecraft and other hardware that will be critical to Artemis' success — including Starship.

美國太空總署局長比爾·尼爾森週二表示，出於安全原因，該機構決定推遲阿耳忒彌斯二號和三號的發射。美國太空總署官員表示，其中的一部分是確保所有私人製造的太空船和其他硬體的安全，這些硬體對阿耳忒彌斯的成功至關重要，包括星際飛船。

SpaceX's Jensen said that after a February test flight, Starship will need to go through multiple further flight tests, including missions to orbit, tests of its systems in space and an uncrewed moon landing before it would be ready for NASA to use as planned. Jensen predicted Starship would land on the moon as soon as 2025 — that's also when NASA now plans to send Artemis II on a crewed flight around the moon using the agency's Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft. Originally, that mission was meant to take place in 2024.

SpaceX 的 Jensen 表示，在 2 月的試飛之後，Starship 將需要進行多次進一步的飛行測試，包括軌道飛行任務、太空系統測試以及無人登月測試，然後才能按計劃供 NASA 使用。 Jensen 預測 Starship 最早將於 2025 年登陸月球，而 NASA 現在計劃使用該機構的太空發射系統火箭和獵戶座飛船將阿耳忒彌斯 II 號送上載人繞月飛行。最初，該任務原定於 2024 年進行。

Starship is a key component for Artemis III. That is slated to be the first crewed mission to the lunar surface since 1972. Originally scheduled to launch in Dec. 2025, it has been pushed back to September 2026.

In Artemis III, four astronauts — including the first woman, non-American and person of color destined to walk on the moon — will be launched into space aboard NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and the Orion crew capsule.

Starship 是 Artemis III 的關鍵組件。這預計將是自1972 年以來首次載人月球表面任務。原定於2025 年12 月發射，現已推遲到2026 年9 月。在阿耳忒彌斯III 號中，四名太空人——包括第一位女性、非美國和注定要在月球上行走的有色人種 - 將乘坐美國太空總署的太空發射系統火箭和獵戶座乘員艙發射到太空。

Once Orion reaches the moon's orbit, so the plan goes, it will dock with a waiting Starship. The astronauts will then descend to the moon on the Starship, stay for a week, and then depart on Starship, before linking back up with the Orion and returning to Earth.

按照計劃，一旦獵戶座到達月球軌道，它將與等待的星際飛船對接。然後太空人將乘坐星艦降落到月球，停留一周，然後乘坐星艦離開，然後與獵戶座連接並返回地球。

On Tuesday, Jensen said Starship is still a long way from testing key factors in the Artemis missions. Ultimately, Starship will need to pass evermore challenging test flights before Artemis III, including landing on the moon. 

週二，詹森表示，星際飛船距離測試阿爾忒彌斯任務中的關鍵因素還有很長的路要走。最終，星艦將需要在阿耳忒彌斯三號之前通過更具挑戰性的測試飛行，包括登陸月球。