SpaceX首次涉足軍事 為國防部發(fā)射偵察衛(wèi)星

SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by Elon Musk, launched a top-secret spy satellite for the US Department of Defense early last Monday morning.

上周一清晨，埃隆·馬斯克創(chuàng)立的航天公司SpaceX為美國國防部發(fā)射了一顆高度機密的偵察衛(wèi)星。

The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the NROL-76 satellite, lifted off at 7:15 am from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

當?shù)貢r間7時15分，二級火箭獵鷹9號搭載衛(wèi)星NROL-76，從佛羅里達州肯尼迪航天中心的39A發(fā)射復合體發(fā)射升空。

About 10 minutes later, the rocket's first stage landed at SpaceX's Landing Zone 1.

大約10分鐘之后，該火箭的第一級在SpaceX公司的著陸一區(qū)安全著陸。

This launch has great symbolic significance for SpaceX, since it's the company's first mission for the Pentagon.

由于這是SpaceX為五角大樓執(zhí)行的首個任務，此次發(fā)射對該公司具有重要的象征意義。

For years, the market for launching US military payloads was dominated by the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

多年來，發(fā)射美國軍方衛(wèi)星的市場一直由洛克希德馬丁和波音的合資公司美國聯(lián)合發(fā)射聯(lián)盟主導。

But SpaceX broke the monopoly in 2015, when the US Air Force certified its Falcon 9 rocket to launch national security space missions.

不過2015年，美國空軍批準獵鷹9號火箭執(zhí)行國家安全太空發(fā)射任務時，SpaceX打破了這一壟斷。

Since then, the California-based company has also won two contracts to launch Global Positioning System satellites for the US Air Force.

自那之后，這家位于加利福尼亞的公司已經(jīng)拿下了兩筆為美國空軍發(fā)射全球定位系統(tǒng)衛(wèi)星的合同。