• For the upcoming flight, SpaceX is focused on demonstrating its ability to reuse Starship.

  对于即将到来的飞行，SpaceX 的重点是展示其重复利用 Starship 的能力。

• Regulatory approval for upcoming flight depends on FAA determining that public safety was not impacted during last flight.

  对即将到来的航班的监管批准取决于美国联邦航空局确定公共安全在上次飞行期间没有受到影响。

Elon Musk‘s rocket manufacturing company, SpaceX, is preparing to launch its Starship again, possibly as soon as June 5.

埃隆·马斯克 (Elon Musk) 的火箭制造公司 SpaceX 正准备再次发射其星际飞船，最早可能于 6 月 5 日发射。

What Happened: SpaceX has yet to receive regulatory approval for Starship’s fourth flight test. However, if approved, the Starship could launch on June 5, with the launch window opening as early as 7 a.m. CT, the company announced on Friday.

发生了什么：Starship 的第四次飞行测试尚未获得监管部门的批准。然而，该公司周五宣布，如果获得批准，星舰可能会在 6 月 5 日发射，发射窗口最早将于中部时间上午 7 点开放。

Starship is touted as the world's most powerful launch vehicle, standing 121 meters tall and weighing approximately 5,000 tonnes. It consists of two stages: the Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy rocket.

Starship 被誉为世界上最强大的运载火箭，高 121 米，重约 5,000 吨。它由两级组成：星舰飞船和超重型火箭。

For the upcoming test, the company aims to achieve a soft splashdown of the Super Heavy booster in the Gulf of Mexico and a controlled re-entry and splashdown of the Starship in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX has implemented both software and hardware upgrades to Starship since its last flight test to meet these objectives.

对于即将到来的测试，该公司的目标是实现超重型助推器在墨西哥湾的软溅落以及星舰在印度洋的受控重返和溅落。自上次飞行测试以来，SpaceX 已对 Starship 进行了软件和硬件升级，以实现这些目标。

“The fourth flight test turns our focus from achieving orbit to demonstrating the ability to return and reuse Starship and Super Heavy,” the company stated.

该公司表示：“第四次飞行测试将我们的重点从进入轨道转向展示返回和再利用星舰和超重型的能力。”

The Federal Aviation Administration must determine there was no impact on public safety during the last flight test before issuing a license modification for the next flight, according to SpaceX.

SpaceX 表示，美国联邦航空管理局必须确定上一次飞行测试对公共安全没有影响，然后才能为下一次飞行颁发许可证修改。

Musk on Rocket Reusability: Addressing the difficulty of achieving reusability in space travel, Musk said on Saturday, “There is a reason it hasn't been solved, despite countries/companies pouring about a trillion dollars cumulatively into rocket development over 80 years.”

马斯克谈火箭可重复使用性：在解决太空旅行中实现可重复使用性的困难时，马斯克周六表示，“尽管各国/公司在 80 年来累计投入了约一万亿美元用于火箭开发，但这个问题仍未得到解决是有原因的。”

However, SpaceX considers reusable rockets essential to its mission, seeing them as crucial for reducing the cost of space access. A rapidly reusable space launch vehicle can lower the cost of traveling to space by a hundredfold, as a significant portion of launch costs is the expense of building the rocket, the company explains.

然而，SpaceX 认为可重复使用的火箭对其任务至关重要，认为它们对于降低进入太空的成本至关重要。该公司解释说，快速可重复使用的太空运载火箭可以将太空旅行的成本降低一百倍，因为发射成本的很大一部分是建造火箭的费用。

Why It Matters: During Starship’s previous flight test on March 14, the spacecraft lost contact and broke apart while re-entering the atmosphere instead of splashing down in the Indian Ocean as planned. The booster also lost contact before achieving a soft splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The entire flight lasted about an hour.

重要性：在 3 月 14 日 Starship 进行的上一次飞行测试中，飞船在重新进入大气层时失去了联系并解体，而不是按计划坠入印度洋。助推器在墨西哥湾软溅落之前也失去了接触。整个飞行持续了大约一个小时。

SpaceX launched the Starship twice last year — first in April and then in November.

SpaceX 去年两次发射了 Starship——第一次是在 4 月，第二次是在 11 月。

NASA is currently relying on the success of Starship to land humans back on the moon as part of its Artemis program. The last crewed lunar mission occurred in 1972 with Apollo 17. Since then, no crew has traveled beyond low-Earth orbit.

作为阿尔忒弥斯计划的一部分，美国宇航局目前正在依靠星际飞船的成功将人类送回月球。最后一次载人登月任务发生在 1972 年的阿波罗 17 号任务中。从那时起，就再也没有宇航员飞出近地轨道。