According to NASA, Starship‘s third flight test will feature a major demonstration needed for the overall success of landing humans on the Moon with the Artemis program. In a meeting, slides showed Starship Flight 3 being the first mission to demonstrate in-orbit propellent transfer. However, the schedule is still up in the air.

據美國太空總署稱，星艦的第三次飛行測試將進行重大演示，以確保透過阿耳忒彌斯計畫將人類成功登陸月球。在一次會議上，幻燈片顯示 Starship Flight 3 是第一個演示在軌道推進劑轉移的任務。然而，時間表仍然懸而未決。

Starship Flight 3 could be big for Artemis

In a meeting on Monday, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which is conducting a study of NASA’s critical workforce, infrastructure, and technology, met with several NASA officials to go over the agency’s Moon to Mars program, including Artemis.

星艦3 號班機對阿耳忒彌斯來說意義重大在周一的一次會議上，美國國家科學、工程和醫學院正在對NASA 的關鍵勞動力、基礎設施和技術進行研究，並會見了幾位NASA 官員，討論了該機構的月球任務火星計劃，包括阿爾忒彌斯。

Lakiesha Hawkins, NASA’s Deputy Assistant Associate Administrator for the agency’s Moon to Mars program, gave an update across all of the in-space hardware it is developing. This ranged from the xEVA suits by Axiom and Collins, to Gateway, Orion, and the Human Landing System.

美國太空總署負責月球到火星計畫的副助理副局長拉基莎·霍金斯介紹了其正在開發的所有太空硬體的最新情況。其中包括 Axiom 和 Collins 的 xEVA 套裝、Gateway、Orion 和人類著陸系統。

The update shared brief updates for where each HLS providers are in their development of their respective landers. For Blue Origin, who just recent received their contract, the company has already delivered its mock up to the agency. For SpaceX it looks like the company will complete the first tank-to-tank transfer of cryogenic propellent in orbit on Flight 3.

該更新分享了每個 HLS 提供者在各自著陸器開發中的最新進展。對於最近剛收到合約的藍色起源來說，該公司已經向該機構交付了模型。對於 SpaceX 來說，該公司似乎將在 Flight 3 上完成首次在軌低溫推進劑的罐對罐轉移。

While Russia regularly refuels the ISS with hypergolic propellents, these can be stored at pretty much any temperatures for months or years on end. Cryogenic propellents, which are much more efficient, usually can’t last for more than a few hours in space before they boil off.

雖然俄羅斯定期使用自燃推進劑為國際太空站補充燃料，但這些推進劑幾乎可以在任何溫度下儲存數月或數年。低溫推進劑的效率要高得多，但通常在太空中只能維持幾個小時才會沸騰。

For both of NASA’s HLS landers, they will need to develop technologies to extend the lifespan of their propellents, SpaceX with methane and oxygen and Blue Origin with hydrogen and oxygen, as well as transferring it between spacecraft in orbit.

對於 NASA 的 HLS 登陸器，他們需要開發技術來延長其推進劑的使用壽命，SpaceX 使用甲烷和氧氣，藍色起源則使用氫氣和氧氣，以及在軌道上的太空船之間傳輸推進劑。

While Starship Flight 3 won’t feature any vehicle-to-vehicle refueling, it will begin the journey to that with a tank-to-tank transfer of liquid oxygen. How we expect this to happen is once in its coast phase, SpaceX will move 10 metric tons of propellent from the Starship upper stage’s main tank to its header tank located at the nose of the vehicle.

雖然 Starship Flight 3 不具備任何車輛間加油功能，但它將透過罐間液態氧轉移開始這一旅程。我們預計，一旦進入海岸階段，SpaceX 將把 10 噸推進劑從 Starship 上級的主油箱轉移到位於飛行器前端的主油箱。

While small compared to the 15 or so tanker spacecraft needed to refuel an entire Starship HLS lander, this test is a big step forward in developing a required technology for NASA’s Artemis 3 landing. Without it, there is no chance of completing any landings in the agency’s timelines.

雖然與為整個 Starship HLS 登陸器加油所需的 15 艘左右加油飛船相比，這次測試規模較小，但在開發 NASA Artemis 3 著陸所需技術方面邁出了一大步。如果沒有它，就沒有機會在該機構的時間表內完成任何著陸。

The timeline however is still fluid

Just like the propellents that have to be stored at hundreds of degrees below zero, Starship’s third flight schedule is very fluid.

然而，時間線仍然不穩定，就像推進劑必須在零下數百度的溫度下儲存一樣，星艦的第三次飛行時間表也非常不穩定。

Elon Musk has said that it wants hardware ready to fly sometime this month, however we haven’t seen any stages begin testing at the launch site just yet. Work though is moving forward on a lot of the final V1 Starship upper stages in Starbase’s high bay. The company is also working through refurbishment work at the launch site after November’s flight.

伊隆馬斯克表示，希望硬體在本月某個時候準備好飛行，但我們還沒有看到任何階段在發射場開始測試。不過，位於 Starbase 高灣的最後 V1 星艦上層的大部分工作正在取得進展。 11 月飛行後，該公司還在發射場進行翻新工作。

SpaceX will have to wait once again for the FAA to close out its mishap investigation into Starship’s second flight before moving forward with a third. A NASA spokesperson has shared with the media that the tank-to-tank test is only a possibility, and could be pushed to a later flight.

SpaceX 將不得不再次等待美國聯邦航空局結束對 Starship 第二次飛行的事故調查，然後才能進行第三次飛行。美國太空總署發言人向媒體表示，坦克間測試只是一種可能性，可能會推遲到稍後的飛行。

Right now, SpaceX’s primary mission is to get Starship through its flight profile, which ends with a splash down off the coast of Hawaii. Flight 2 saw major improvements and met the company’s milestones of a clean stage separation and improved reliability of the Raptor engines in flight. But both stages still exploded shortly after showing those improvements.

目前，SpaceX 的主要任務是讓 Starship 完成其飛行剖面，最終在夏威夷海岸濺落。 Flight 2 取得了重大改進，並達到了該公司的里程碑，即乾淨的級分離和飛行中猛禽發動機可靠性的提高。但在展示這些改進後不久，這兩個階段仍然出現爆炸性增長。

While there is plenty of forward movement on Starship’s development, NASA has the goal to land astronauts on the Moon’s surface with Artemis 3 in 2026. A date that is unlikely to be met due to several programs being behind schedule, including Starship.

雖然 Starship 的開發取得了許多進展，但 NASA 的目標是在 2026 年利用 Artemis 3 將太空人送上月球表面。由於包括 Starship 在內的多個項目都落後於計劃，這一日期不太可能實現。