After a delay-plagued first month of the year, SpaceX is only hours away from its seventh Falcon 9 launch in January, as a record-setting booster prepares to fly tonight from California. Seasoned B1063—a grizzled West Coast veteran, flying a record-breaking 15th time from Vandenberg Space Force Base and the 16th mission of its career—is targeting a raft of T-0 points extending from 4:35 p.m. PST through 8:35 p.m. PST, with backup opportunities available from 4:14 p.m. PST Wednesday.

在經歷了今年第一個月的延誤之後，距離 1 月第七次獵鷹 9 號發射只有幾個小時了，一枚創紀錄的助推器準備今晚從加州起飛。經驗豐富的B1063 是一位頭髮花白的西海岸老兵，破紀錄地第15 次從范登堡太空部隊基地起飛，也是其職業生涯中的第16 次任務，目標是從下午4 點35 分到下午4點35 分開始一系列T-0 點。太平洋標準時間 (太平洋標準時間) 至晚上 8:35 PST，下午 4:14 開始提供備份機會。太平洋標準時間週三。

For tonight’s flight, B1061 is laden with 22 Starlink internet communications satellites, totaling 38,800 pounds (17,600 kilograms), destined for insertion into low-Earth orbit. It will bring the total number of these flat-packed satellites launched so far in 2024 to more than a hundred aboard five Falcon 9 missions.

在今晚的飛行中，B1061 裝載著 22 顆星鏈網路通訊衛星，總重 38,800 磅（17,600 公斤），注定要進入近地軌道。到 2024 年為止，五次獵鷹 9 號任務中發射的扁平封裝衛星總數將達到一百多顆。

Following liftoff from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex (SLC)-4E, B1063’s nine Merlin 1D+ engines will power the 230-foot-tall (70-meter) stack uphill for the opening 2.5 minutes of ascent, before Main Engine Cutoff (MECO), stage separation and a descent and touchdown on the deck of the West Coast-based Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS), “Of Course I Still Love You”, situated offshore in the Pacific Ocean. The single Merlin 1D+ Vacuum engine of the Falcon 9’s second stage will then ignite for a standard six-minute “burn” to deliver the 22 Starlinks into orbit.

從范登堡航太發射中心(SLC)-4E 升空後，B1063 的九台Merlin 1D+ 引擎將為230 英尺高（70 公尺）的煙囪上坡提供動力，在主引擎關閉(MECO) 之前進行2.5 分鐘的上升。位於西海岸的自主航天港無人機船（ASDS）“當然我仍然愛你”位於太平洋近海，在甲板上分離、下降和著陸。然後，獵鷹 9 號第二級的單一 Merlin 1D+ 真空引擎將點燃，進行標準的六分鐘“燃燒”，將 22 個星鏈送入軌道。

A year ago, seven launches across the span of an entire calendar month was a newly achieved personal best for SpaceX, with the Hawthorne, Calif.-headquartered organization scoring its first eight-launch month last March and its first month to feature nine launches last August. Each consecutive month since then has seen nine launches, but despite 2023’s record-breaking cadence of 96 Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy missions SpaceX is reportedly aiming for around 144 launches this year, an average of 12 per month.

一年前，SpaceX 在整個日曆月內完成了7 次發射，創下了新的個人最佳成績，這家總部位於加州霍桑的組織去年3 月首次實現了8 次發射，去年也是第一個實現了9 次發射的月份八月。此後連續每個月都會進行9 次發射，但儘管2023 年獵鷹9 號和獵鷹重型任務的發射頻率破紀錄，達到96 次，據報道SpaceX 今年的目標是進行約144 次發射，平均每月12 次。

January began with impressive pace, as a pair of Falcon 9s roared aloft from opposing seaboards of the United States—a Starlink launch from Vandenberg and Sweden’s Ovzon-3 broadband communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla.—conducted only 19 hours and 20 minutes apart on the year’s third day. But the pace slowed a tad in January’s second week, when the second Vandenberg mission of the year suffered several days of delay due to poor weather, and last Thursday’s launch of Dragon Freedom and her Ax-3 crew of Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria, Pilot Walter Villadei and Mission Specialists Alper Gezeravcı (the first national spacefarer of Türkiye) and Marcus Wandt itself succumbed to a daylong delay of its own.

一月份伊始，兩顆獵鷹9 號火箭從美國相對的海岸呼嘯而過——從范登堡發射的星鏈衛星和從佛羅裡達州卡納維拉爾角太空部隊站發射的瑞典Ovzon-3 寬頻通訊衛星－只進行了19 個小時，大年初三相隔20分鐘。但在一月份的第二週，這一速度略有放緩，今年的第二次范登堡任務由於天氣惡劣而推遲了幾天，上週四，龍自由號及其Ax-3 機組人員、飛行員、指揮官邁克·洛佩茲-阿萊格里亞(Mike Lopez-Alegria) 的發射沃爾特·維拉迪(Walter Villadei) 和任務專家阿爾珀·格澤拉維奇(Alper Gezeravcı)（土耳其第一位國家太空人）以及馬庫斯·旺特(Marcus Wandt) 本身也因延誤一天而喪生。

Seven launches inside January’s first three weeks approximates a mission every 3.2 days, somewhat greater than the 3.8 days averaged last year. But in order to attain 12 flights per month—or 144 across the span of 2024—requires a rate of a mission each 2.5 days or so and tonight’s planned Vandenberg launch has seen Mother Nature remind SpaceX for several consecutive days that it is she who remains in charge.

一月份的前三週內就有 7 次發射，大約每 3.2 天就有一次任務，略高於去年平均 3.8 天。但為了實現每月 12 次飛行（或在 2024 年跨度達到 144 次），需要每 2.5 天左右執行一次任務，而今晚計劃的范登堡發射已經讓大自然連續幾天提醒 SpaceX，她仍然存在負責。

Teams initially aimed for last Thursday evening, during a two-hour “window” opening at 8:04 p.m. PST and closing at 10:05 p.m. PST, despite a 20-percent possibility of rain showers. In readiness for launch, loading of the Falcon 9 with liquid oxygen and a highly refined form of rocket-grade (known as “RP-1”) got underway on time at T-35 minutes, but despite earlier tweeting that “all systems and weather” were go, SpaceX ultimately elected to stand down and enter a 24-hour recycle.

各團隊最初的目標是上週四晚上，即晚上 8:04 開放的兩小時「窗口」期間。太平洋標準時間 (PST) 並於晚上 10:05 關閉PST，儘管陣雨的可能性為 20%。在準備發射的過程中，獵鷹9 號的液態氧和高度精煉的火箭級（稱為“RP-1”）裝載工作在T-35 分鐘準時開始，但儘管早些時候發推文稱“所有在系統和天氣「不好」的情況下，SpaceX 最終選擇停止並進入 24 小時回收。

But attempts last weekend proved no more charmed, as B1063 was twice stood down due to an inclement weather outlook and launch was realigned for the late afternoon into early evening hours of Tuesday. If the mission flies tonight, there remains the possibility that SpaceX will match its current trend by staging eighth and ninth missions before January’s end, with a chance that the coming days could see its first ten-launch calendar month.

但事實證明，上週末的嘗試並沒有那麼令人著迷，B1063 由於惡劣的天氣前景兩次被擱置，發射時間被重新安排在周二下午晚些時候到傍晚早些時候。如果任務今晚成功，SpaceX 仍有可能追隨當前趨勢，在 1 月底之前進行第八次和第九次任務，未來幾天可能會迎來其第一個日曆月的十次發射。

Storied Space Launch Complex (SLC)-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., which has seen launches on average every four to seven days, was last vacated by a Falcon 9 on 15 January and is seemingly now being “held” for Northrop Grumman Corp.’s high-priority NG-20 Cygnus cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) at 12:30 p.m. EST on the 29th. Following the final voyage of its home-grown Antares 230+ booster last August, Northrop Grumman contracted with SpaceX to fly three Cygnus missions—NG-20, NG-21 and NG-22—aboard Falcon 9s until the next-generation Antares 330, powered by Firefly Aerospace’s Miranda engines, enters service in mid-2025.

佛羅裡達州卡納維爾角太空部隊站著名的太空發射綜合體(SLC)-40 平均每四到7 天就會發射一次，最後一次由獵鷹9 號騰空是在1 月15 日，現在似乎被「保留」了很長時間。諾斯羅普·格魯曼公司於中午 12:30 執行前往國際太空站 (ISS) 的高優先級 NG-20 天鵝座貨運任務。美國東部時間 29 日。繼去年8 月國產Antares 230+ 助推器完成最後一次航行後，諾斯羅普·格魯曼公司與SpaceX 簽訂合同，在獵鷹9 號上執行三項天鵝座任務：NG-20、NG- 21 和NG-22，直到下一代Antares 330，由螢火蟲航空航天公司的米蘭達發動機提供動力，將於 2025 年中期投入使用。

Honoring former NASA astronaut Dr. Patricia “Patty” Hilliard-Robertson (1963-2001), NG-20 continues a longstanding Northrop Grumman tradition of naming each Cygnus after a deceased figure who played a substantial role in human space exploration. Past honorees included astronauts from Apollo 1 and the final crews of shuttles Challenger and Columbia, together with moonwalkers Gene Cernan, John Young and Al Bean and “Hidden Figures” mathematician Katherine Johnson.

NG-20 是為了紀念前NASA 宇航員帕特里夏·“帕蒂”·希利亞德-羅伯遜博士（1963-2001 年），延續了諾斯羅普·格魯曼公司的長期傳統，即以在人類太空探索中發揮重要作用的已故人物的名字命名每個天鵝座。過去的獲獎者包括來自阿波羅1 號的宇航員以及挑戰者號和哥倫比亞號航天飛機的最後一批機組人員，以及月球漫步者吉恩·塞爾南、約翰·楊和阿爾·比恩以及“隱藏人物」數學家凱瑟琳·約翰遜。

Hilliard-Roberson, a physician, private pilot, flight instructor and space medicine fellow, was selected into NASA’s Astronaut Corps in June 1998, but tragically died following injuries sustained in an airplane accident in May 2001, before ever flying into space. “At just 38 years old at the time of her death, she had already achieved so much,” remembered former astronaut Doug Hurley, who today serves as Northrop Grumman’s director of business development, “and her legacy in medicine, aviation and space exploration continues to inspire generations that have followed.”

希利亞德-羅伯森(Hilliard-Roberson) 是一名醫生、私人飛行員、飛行教練和太空醫學研究員，1998 年6 月被選入NASA 宇航員軍團，但在2001 年5 月飛入太空之前因飛機事故受傷而不幸過世。 「她去世時年僅38 歲，但她已經取得瞭如此多的成就，」現任諾斯羅普·格魯曼公司業務發展總監的前宇航員道格·赫爾利(Doug Hurley) 回憶道， “她在醫學、航空和太空探索方面的遺產仍在繼續。激勵後代。”

In December, NG-20’s unpressurized Service Module (SM) concluded its final checkouts and was transported overland from Northrop Grumman’s facilities in Dulles, Va., to Florida for launch. Last week, teams integrated the SM with Cygnus’ Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM)—built by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy—and began loading equipment, payloads and supplies. The complete spacecraft stands 21 feet (6.4 meters) tall and boasts an internal pressurized volume of 950 cubic feet (27 cubic meters).

12 月，NG-20 的非加壓服務模組 (SM) 完成了最後的檢查，並從諾斯羅普·格魯曼公司位於弗吉尼亞州杜勒斯的設施通過陸路運輸到佛羅裡達州進行發射。上週，團隊將 SM 與 Cygnus 的加壓貨物模組 (PCM)（由義大利都靈泰雷茲阿萊尼亞太空公司建造）集成，並開始裝載設備、有效載荷和補給品。完整的太空船高 21 英尺（6.4 公尺），內部加壓體積為 950 立方英尺（27 立方公尺）。

Following 29 January’s launch, the NG-20 Cygnus will approach the space station early on the 31st, to be grappled by the 57.7-foot-long (17.6-meter) Canadarm2. It will then be robotically berthed onto the Earth-facing (or “nadir”) port of the Unity node.

繼 1 月 29 日發射後，NG-20 Cygnus 將於 31 日早些時候接近太空站，並被 57.7 英尺長（17.6 公尺）的 Canadarm2 抓住。然後，它將自動停泊在 Unity 節點面向地球（或「最低點」）的連接埠上。

Commanding the Canadian-built robotic will be Expedition 70 crewmembers Loral O’Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli, with an expectation that Cygnus will remain attached to the sprawling orbital complex until late spring. Yesterday, O’Hara and Moghbeli reviewed Cygnus’ mission profile, rendezvous procedures and command and control interfaces to prepare for their roles and responsibilities during the NG-20 arrival.

指揮這架加拿大製造的機器人的將是 Expedition 70 機組成員 Loral O’Hara 和 Jasmin Moghbeli，預計天鵝座將一直附著在這個龐大的軌道綜合體上直到春末。昨天，奧哈拉和莫格貝利審查了天鵝座的任務概況、交會程序以及指揮和控制介面，為 NG-20 抵達期間的角色和職責做好準備。

Among NG-20’s haul of payloads is the Robotic Surgery Tech Demo, led by Principal Investigator Scott Tarry of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, which is capable of being remotely controlled or teleoperated from the ground. To be mounted in an Express rack locker aboard the ISS, this miniature surgical robot will conduct simulated surgical tasks to assess the effects of microgravity and time-lag latency upon its activities.

NG-20 的有效載荷之一是機器人手術技術演示，由內布拉斯加大學奧馬哈分校的首席研究員 Scott Tarry 領導，它能夠從地面進行遠端控製或遙控操作。該微型手術機器人將安裝在國際太空站的快速機架儲物櫃中，將執行模擬手術任務，以評估微重力和時滯對其活動的影響。

The robot will execute an autonomous subset of surgical tasks independently and a remotely teleoperated mode which will see it controlled by a user from an Earth-based interface. “As longer space missions become more common, the potential need for emergency care increased, including surgical procedures from simple stitching of lacerations to more complex activities,” NASA explained. “Results from this investigation could support development of robotic systems to perform procedures, ensuring the safety of crew members and the success of future missions.”

該機器人將獨立執行手術任務的自主子集，並採用遠端遙控模式，由使用者透過基於地球的介面進行控制。 NASA 解釋說：“隨著更長的太空任務變得越來越普遍，對緊急護理的潛在需求也隨之增加，包括從簡單縫合撕裂傷到更複雜活動的外科手術。” “這項調查的結果可以支持機器人系統的開發來執行程序，確保機組人員的安全和未來任務的成功。”

The Compartment Cartilage Tissue Construct investigation, led by Principal Investigator Yupeng Chen of the University of Connecticut, will demonstrate a pair of technologies—Janus Base Nanomatrix (JBNm) and Janus Base Nanopiece (JBNp)—to grow cartilage tissues in space with the intention of studying cartilage diseases and potential therapies to combat cartilage degenerative diseases, notably osteoarthritis.

由康乃狄克大學首席研究員 Yupeng Chen 領導的隔間軟骨組織建構研究將展示兩種技術——Janus Base Nanomatrix (JBNm) 和 Janus Base Nanopiece (JBNp)——在太空中生長軟骨組織，目的是研究軟骨疾病和對抗軟骨退化性疾病（特別是骨關節炎）的潛在療法。

The Kentucky Re-entry Probe Experiment (KREPE)-2 will see three instrumented capsules deployed inside Cygnus at the end of the NG-20 mission to evaluate affordable re-entry technologies. The capsules are outfitted with data-gathering sensors, including thermocouples positioned at various depths within their heat shields, to assess the thermal response during re-entry and transmit directly to orbiting Iridium satellites and from thence to ground stations.

NG-20 任務結束時，肯塔基州再入探測器實驗 (KREPE)-2 將在天鵝座內部署三個儀表艙，以評估經濟實惠的再入技術。這些太空艙配備了數據收集感測器，包括位於隔熱罩內不同深度的熱電偶，以評估重返大氣層期間的熱響應，並直接傳輸到軌道銥星衛星，並從那裡傳輸到地面站。

Shortly before Cygnus departs the ISS later this spring, station crew members will remove the capsules, position them in three discrete locations and transition them into a “dormant” state as the cargo ship is loaded with waste materials for disposal. During re-entry, the KREPE-2 capsules will monitor Cygnus’ breakup in the upper atmosphere—evidenced by a temperature “spike” from on-board thermocouples, a specified level of acceleration, a physical detachment from the protective shell or a combination of all three—and continue recording until splashdown in the ocean is detected.

在今年春天晚些時候天鵝座離開國際太空站之前不久，太空站工作人員將拆除太空艙，將它們放置在三個不同的位置，並在貨船裝載待處理的廢料時將它們轉變為「休眠」狀態。在重返大氣層期間，KREPE-2 太空艙將監測天鵝座在高層大氣中的破裂情況——透過機載熱電偶的溫度「尖峰」、指定水平的加速度、與保護殼的物理脫離或以下因素的組合來證明：所有這三個 - 並繼續記錄，直到檢測到海洋中的濺落。

Manufacturing of Semiconductors and Thin-film Integrated Coatings (MSTIC), supplied by Made in Space of Jacksonville, Fla., will seek to produce high-quality, low-cost semiconductor chips for conceptual applications in the electronics industry. “The potential for producing films with superior surface structures and the broad range of applications from energy harvesting to advanced sensor technology are particularly groundbreaking,” said Alex Hayes of Redwire Space, which developed the technology. “This represents a significant leap in space manufacturing and could herald a new era of technological advancements with wide-reaching implications for both space exploration and terrestrial applications.”

由佛羅裡達州傑克遜維爾的 Made in Space 提供的半導體和薄膜整合塗層製造 (MSTIC) 將致力於為電子行業的概念應用生產高品質、低成本的半導體晶片。開發該技術的 Redwire Space 的 Alex Hayes 表示：“生產具有卓越表面結構的薄膜的潛力以及從能量收集到先進感測器技術的廣泛應用的潛力尤其具有突破性。” “這代表了太空製造的重大飛躍，可能預示著技術進步的新時代，對太空探索和地面應用產生廣泛影響。”

And the European Space Agency (ESA) is providing its 3D Metal Printer to test additive manufacturing or 3D-printing or small metallic components to examine their functionality, performance and operations, as well as their quality, strength and characteristics. Three-dimensional printing carries great potential for creating parts for maintaining equipment on future long-duration missions or deep-space expeditions to the Moon and Mars.

歐洲太空總署 (ESA) 正在提供 3D 金屬列印機來測試積層製造或 3D 列印或小型金屬零件，以檢查其功能、性能和操作，以及品質、強度和特性。三維列印在製造未來長期任務或月球和火星深空探險中維護設備的零件方面具有巨大的潛力。