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.

星际飞船是 NASA 十年内将人类送回月球计划的关键组成部分，据 SpaceX 高管杰西卡·詹森 (Jessica Jensen) 称，SpaceX 旨在将人类送上火星的下一代火箭预计将于 2 月份进行第三次抵达轨道尝试。周二，NASA 在新闻发布会上更新了 Starship 下一次试飞的时间表，该机构推迟了阿耳忒弥斯 II 和阿耳忒弥斯 III 登月任务的时间表。Starship 设计为完全可重复使用，可搭载多达 100 人进入太空是美国宇航局阿耳忒弥斯计划的重要组成部分。作为阿耳忒弥斯 III 任务的一部分，它目前预计将帮助美国宇航局宇航员从轨道运送到月球表面，但到目前为止，它尚未进入轨道。在前两次测试中，它爆炸了——第一次是在飞行后几分钟，第二次是在飞行后大约十五分钟。

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 客户运营与集成副总裁 Jensen 在新闻发布会上表示，Starship 希望在 1 月底之前做好再次测试 Starship 的准备，并在 2 月底之前获得联邦当局的必要许可。

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.

美国宇航局局长比尔·尼尔森周二表示，出于安全原因，该机构决定推迟阿耳忒弥斯二号和三号的发射。美国宇航局官员表示，其中的一部分是确保所有私人制造的航天器和其他硬件的安全，这些硬件对阿耳忒弥斯的成功至关重要，包括星际飞船。

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 月份的试飞之后，Starship 将需要进行多次进一步的飞行测试，包括轨道飞行任务、太空系统测试以及无人登月测试，然后才能按计划供 NASA 使用。 Jensen 预测 Starship 最早将于 2025 年登陆月球，而 NASA 现在计划使用该机构的太空发射系统火箭和猎户座飞船将阿耳忒弥斯 II 号送上载人绕月飞行。最初，该任务原定于 2024 年进行。

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 的关键组件。这预计将是自 1972 年以来首次载人月球表面任务。原定于 2025 年 12 月发射，现已推迟到 2026 年 9 月。在阿耳忒弥斯 III 号中，四名宇航员——包括第一位女性、非美国和注定要在月球上行走的有色人种 - 将乘坐美国宇航局的太空发射系统火箭和猎户座乘员舱发射到太空。

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.

按照计划，一旦猎户座到达月球轨道，它将与等待的星际飞船对接。然后宇航员将乘坐星舰降落到月球，停留一周，然后乘坐星舰离开，然后与猎户座连接并返回地球。

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. 

周二，詹森表示，星际飞船距离测试阿尔忒弥斯任务中的关键因素还有很长的路要走。最终，星舰将需要在阿耳忒弥斯三号之前通过更具挑战性的测试飞行，包括登陆月球。