馬斯克又放大招！這次要建全球wifi
SpaceX, the rocket company founded by Elon musk, launched a radar satellite atop one of its go-to rockets last Thursday morning.
上週四上午，埃隆·馬斯克創建的火箭公司SpaceX（美國太空探索技術公司）通過其一艘運載火箭發射了一顆雷達衛星。
The satellite, called Paz, will keep an eye on ship traffic across the oceans of the world.
該衛星被稱爲帕斯，它將看管全球海上的船舶交通。
But another payload hitched a ride aboard the Falcon 9 rocket, one the company didn't publicize: two smaller satellites that are part of Musk's plan to bathe Earth in high-speed internet coverage.
不過，“獵鷹9號”火箭還順便搭載了另外兩顆小型衛星。該公司並沒有公佈這項發射任務，但這卻是馬斯克覆蓋全球的高速互聯網計劃的一部分。
The scale of the proposal, informally known as Starlink, is incredible. In the coming years, the company hopes to launch 4,425 interlinked broadband-internet satellites into orbit some 700 to 800 miles above Earth, plus another 7,500 spacecraft into lower orbits.
這一提案被通稱爲星鏈（Starlink），其規模十分驚人。在未來的幾年裏，該公司希望在地球上空700到800英里的軌道上發射4425顆互連的寬帶網絡衛星，並在較低的軌道上發射另外7500個航天器。
That's nearly 12,000 satellites, more than twice the number of all satellites launched in history, according to a tally by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
據憂思科學家聯盟統計，那將是近12000顆衛星，比歷史上發射的所有衛星的數量的兩倍還要多。
Musk and SpaceX have said little about their plan since announcing it in 2015. But since it needs approval from the Federal Communications Commission, detailed documents about the effort are released.
自從2015年宣佈這一計劃，馬斯克和SpaceX公司幾乎再沒提過它。但因爲需要獲得聯邦通信委員會的批准，他們公佈了有關這一嘗試的詳細文件。
According to FCC documents made public this month, the organisation in November gave SpaceX permission to launch the two experimental spacecraft, called Microsat-2a and Microsat-2b, to test its space-based internet concept.
聯邦通信委員會本月公佈的文件指出，該組織於11月份准許了SpaceX公司發射兩個實驗航天器。這兩個航天器被稱爲微型衛星2a（Microsat-2a）和微型衛星2b（Microsat-2b），它們是用來檢驗基於太空的互聯網理念的。
The mission lifted off from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California last Thursday at 9:17 am ET – one day later than planned – aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.
此次發射任務是於上週四（比計劃發射的時間晚了一天）上午9點17分（美國東部時間）在加利福尼亞范登堡空軍基地通過“獵鷹9號”火箭完成的。
Musk confirmed that the launch will test aspects of Starlink.
馬斯克證實，此次發射將檢測星鏈計劃的各方面情況。
"Today's Falcon launch carries 2 SpaceX test satellites for global broadband," Musk tweeted last Wednesday (before the launch delay). "If successful, Starlink constellation will serve least served."
“今天獵鷹火箭搭載了兩顆SpaceX公司研發的全球寬帶測試衛星，”馬斯克上週三（在發射推遲之前）在推特上寫道。“如果成功了，星鏈衛星羣將可以提供最低程度的服務。”
The Paz satellite deployed about 11 minutes after launch, and Microsat-2a and Microsat-2b some time after that.
帕斯衛星在火箭發射後大約11分鐘的時候完成部署，而微型衛星2a和2b在那之後也完成了部署。
A live webcast of the Paz mission launch on YouTube offered the glimpses of the two Starlink satellites, which will operate for about a year above Earth.
油管網站上有帕斯衛星發射的直播視頻，從中可以看到這兩顆星鏈衛星，而這兩顆衛星將在地球上空運行約一年的時間。
An announcer said during SpaceX's live webcast that the company couldn't show the deployment of the Starlink demonstration satellites because of poor signal coverage.
在SpaceX公司網絡直播的過程中，一位播音員表示，因爲信號覆蓋不充足，該公司無法展示星鏈示範衛星的部署過程。
However, the rocket later beamed down high-resolution video of the satellites deploying.
然而，隨後，火箭就播出了高分辨率的衛星部署視頻。
"First two Starlink demo satellites, called Tintin A & B, deployed and communicating to Earth stations," Musk tweeted with a clip of them floating into space.
“最初的兩顆星鏈示範衛星名爲丁丁A和B，它們部署在地球站上，並向其傳遞信息，”馬斯克在推特上寫道，同時附上了兩顆衛星漂浮在太空中的一張照片。
