Preparations are underway for a third attempted launch of the enormous Starship rocket after the first two test flights both ended in explosions

在前两次试飞均以爆炸告终后，巨型星舰火箭的第三次发射准备工作正在进行中

SpaceX is getting ready to launch its huge Starship rocket for the third time. But the exact launch date won’t be announced until the US government’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) finishes investigating why the last launch – in November 2023 – failed to reach orbit.

SpaceX 正准备第三次发射其巨大的星舰火箭。但具体的发射日期要等到美国政府联邦航空管理局 (FAA) 完成对上次发射（2023 年 11 月）为何未能进入轨道的调查后才会公布。

The Starship rocket’s first test launch in April 2023 saw it spin out of control because of problems with several of its engines. Those faults activated an automated flight termination system designed to safely blow up the rocket. It failed to do so, and the rocket continued to tumble before disintegrating. It did not make it to space.

星舰火箭于 2023 年 4 月首次试射，由于几个发动机出现问题，它失去了控制。这些故障激活了自动飞行终止系统，该系统旨在安全地炸毁火箭。但它没能做到这一点，火箭继续翻滚，然后解体。它没有成功进入太空。

The incident damaged the launchpad and blasted debris across huge swathes of the surrounding area. After repairs and updates were made to the launch facility and the FAA certified enough had been done to prevent similar damage from occurring again, SpaceX initiated its second Starship test launch in November 2023.

这次事件损坏了发射台，并将碎片炸到了周围大片地区。在对发射设施进行了维修和更新，并且美国联邦航空局 (FAA) 认证已完成足够工作以防止类似损坏再次发生后，SpaceX 于 2023 年 11 月启动了第二次星舰测试发射。

That one didn’t go well, either. For a few minutes everything seemed fine. The rocket made it to space – but then the engines started failing and it blew up. Now, SpaceX has to build a new rocket, and the FAA has to give it a licence to fly it.

那件事也不顺利。有几分钟，一切似乎都很好。火箭成功进入太空，但随后发动机开始出现故障，火箭爆炸了。现在，SpaceX 必须建造一枚新火箭，美国联邦航空局必须向其颁发飞行许可证。

“We’re expecting that licence to come in February. So it’s looking like [flight] three will occur in February of this year,” SpaceX official Jessica Jensen said in a press conference on 9 January.

“我们预计许可证将于二月份发放。因此，看起来第三次飞行将在今年 2 月进行。”SpaceX 官员杰西卡·詹森 (Jessica Jensen) 在 1 月 9 日的新闻发布会上表示。

Eventually, Starship is intended to ferry astronauts to and from the surface of the moon. NASA selected it as the vehicle for its Artemis III and IV missions, planned for 2026 and 2028. The enormous rocket could even carry astronauts to Mars as soon as 2029, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said. But before it can do any of that, Starship will have to make it to space without exploding or falling apart, making its third flight a crucial test.

最终，星舰旨在运送宇航员往返月球表面。 NASA 选择它作为计划于 2026 年和 2028 年执行阿耳忒弥斯 III 和 IV 任务的运载工具。SpaceX 首席执行官埃隆·马斯克表示，这枚巨大的火箭甚至可以最快在 2029 年将宇航员送上火星。但在做到这一切之前，星舰必须在不爆炸或解体的情况下进入太空，这使得它的第三次飞行成为一次至关重要的考验。