VOA慢速英语2012 ECONOMICS REPORT - SpaceX Is Doing Business in Space（在线收听）

ECONOMICS REPORT - SpaceX Is Doing Business in Space

经济报道 - SpaceX公司开展太空业务

This is the VOA Special English ECONOMICS REPORT.

这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。

Space Explorations Technologies, or SpaceX, may be a company to watch in the coming years. This week, SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The launch vehicle and its reusable Dragon capsule were carrying supplies for the International Space Station.

空间探索科技公司，或称为SpaceX公司，可能是未来几年备受关注的一家公司。本周，SpaceX公司从佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角成功发射了猎鹰9号火箭。该运载火箭以及可重复使用的“飞龙号”太空舱在为国际空间站运送物资。

The countdown sounded like this.

倒计时声音像这样响起。

GEORGE DILLER: “Three, two, one, zero and launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, as NASA turns to the private sector to resupply the International Space Station."

乔治·迪勒：“3，2，1，0，猎鹰9号火箭发射。这次发射正值美国宇航局转向私营部门为国际空间站运送补给之际。”

The space agency’s George Diller was right. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is turning to private companies to provide services like bringing supplies to the space station.

美国宇航局的迪勒说得对。美国宇航局正转向私营公司提供类似向空间站运送补给等服务。

NASA official Bill Gerstenmaier spoke to reporters after the launch. He said NASA has already signed agreements with SpaceX for the company’s services.

美国宇航局官员比尔·葛斯坦迈亚（Bill Gerstenmaier）在发射之后对记者表示，美国宇航局已经就该服务与SpaceX公司签署协议。

BILL GERSTENMAIER: “We’ve already initiated the contract for twelve flights with SpaceX going forward under Commercial Resupply Services and those are already in place.”

葛斯坦迈亚：“我们已经签订合同，未来将由SpaceX公司在商业性补给服务下提供12次飞行。它们已经开始生效。”

The contract is worth one point six billion dollars. Mister Gerstenmaier said the United States no longer pays Russia to carry out such operations.

该合同价值16亿美元。葛斯坦迈亚先生说，美国将不再付费给俄罗斯开展此类业务。 

SpaceX is based in Hawthorne, California. Elon Musk started the company in two thousand two. But, it is not the first company founded the South African-born businessman. He also started the Internet payment service, PayPal, which is now owned by online auction store, Ebay. His other company, Tesla Motors, makes electric cars.

SpaceX公司总部设在加利福尼亚州霍桑市。艾伦.马斯克（Elon Musk）于2002年开设了这家公司。但这并非这位南非出生的商人创建的首家公司。他还创办了互联网支付公司PayPal，该公司现为网上拍卖网站Ebay所有。他的另一家公司，特斯拉汽车公司主营业务是制造电动汽车。

Speaking to reporters, Mister Musk likened space travel to where Internet technology was in the nineteen nineties. At that time, businesses were just starting to think about how to sell goods and services on the World Wide Web. Today, billions of dollars in goods and services are sold online.

马斯克先生在对记者发言时，将太空旅行与1999年的互联网技术联系起来。那时，各企业刚开始思考如何在互联网上出售商品和服务。而到了今天，数十亿美元的商品和服务在网上成交。 

But after the launch, Elon Musk tried to keep his attention on the job at hand.

但在这次发射后，马斯克尽量将注意力保持在手头的工作上。

ELON MUSK: “Well, I think right now our focus is very much on serving the International Space Station with cargo and then transitioning to crew and then advancing the state of our rocket technology…I think the critical breakthrough in rocket technology is to make full and rapidly reusable rocket.”

马斯克：“我认为当前我们的重点主要是为国际空间站运送货物，然后过渡到运送工作人员，然后推进美国火箭技术的现状。我认为火箭技术的关键突破是制造完全并快速可重复利用的火箭。”

The Dragon capsule is designed to be able to carry both astronauts and cargo. SpaceX says it has forty launches planned over the next few years and contracts worth four billion dollars. It says sixty percent of its upcoming flights are for businesses, not the government.

飞龙号太空舱被设计成能够运送宇航员和物资。SpaceX公司表示，未来数年它们有40次发射计划，并拥有价值40亿美元的合同。该公司表示，他们随之而来的60%的发射是为企业服务，而不是政府。