从竞争对手看SpaceX的真正价值

2014-09-09 11:07:38来源：可可英语

　　That competition—mostly European space launch providers like France’s Arianespace (partiallyowned by French aerospace giant Airbus) and International Launch Services (a U.S.-Russiajoint venture that launches satellites aboard Russian Proton launch technology)—has largelyheld a monopoly on commercial space launches since the U.S. retreated from the industry inthe early 1980s. Though SpaceX derives a chunk of its income from NASA in exchange forresupplying the International Space Station, the $200 billion satellite industry makes up a hugeand growing chunk of SpaceX’s nearly 40-strong launch manifest through 2018.

　　SpaceX的航天器发射价格有时仅仅为传统竞争对手的一半，这让它在较短时间里成功实现了很高的市场占有率。该公司安全记录良好，业界对其核心业务的信心也不断增强。今年夏天，SpaceX为在德克萨斯州南部建立自己的专用发射场铺平了道路，并且开始实验火箭循环使用技术，这有可能大幅降低发射成本。

　　By offering space launch services at prices that in some cases undercut the traditional launchindustry by half, SpaceX has managed significant market penetration in a relatively short periodof time. It has a strong safety record and industry confidence in its core services is growing.Over the summer the company cleared the path toward construction of its own dedicatedlaunch facility in southern Texas while also experimenting with reusable rocket stage technologythat could reduce launch costs by an order of magnitude.

　　如果SpaceX在欧洲等地的竞争对手相信所有这些都只是炒作，那它们表达这种态度的方式也太奇怪了。就算不仔细观察也能发现，这些公司看来正在慌忙展开行动。

　　In January, the president of the French national space agency (and former Arianespace CEO)wrote an op-ed in France’s Le Monde detailing all the things SpaceX has done right, calling onthe European space industry to adapt as quickly as possible. In February, Arianespace’scurrent chairman and CEO Stephane Israel told the European Space Agency that it may needadditional subsidies from European governments in order to remain a viable competitor, citingthe arrival of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 medium-lift rocket as the cause of its competitive headaches.At the Berlin Airshow in July, Airbus Group CEO Tom Enders urged Europe to completelyoverhaul its space launcher industry, mentioning SpaceX and CEO Elon Musk by name. “Muskgives us the opportunity to shake up what has been quite a successful European spaceindustry,” Enders told Reuters. “We either much improve and integrate our industrialstructures or we’ll become irrelevant.”

　　今年1月份，法国国家宇航局总裁(曾任Arianespace首席执行官)在法国《世界报》(Le Monde)发表社论文章，详细列举了SpaceX采取过的正确措施，并敦促欧洲航天业尽快效仿。2月份，Arianespace现任董事长兼首席执行官斯塔费恩o伊斯雷尔向欧洲航天局(European Space Agency)表示，自己的公司可能需要欧洲政府提供更多补贴，以便保持足够的竞争力。他说，SpaceX推出猎鹰9号(Falcon 9)中型运载火箭对Arianespace构成了相当大的竞争压力。在7月份的柏林国际航空航天展上，空客集团(Airbus Group)CEO汤姆o恩德斯敦促欧洲航天器发射企业进行彻底革新，并且提到了SpaceX及其首席执行官埃隆o穆斯克。恩德斯在接受路透社(Reuters)采访时表示：“虽然欧洲航天业一直都相当成功，而穆斯克给我们带来了对它进行重整的机会。我们得大幅改进并整合这个行业的结构，不然就会变得无足轻重。”

　　It’s not just talk coming out of the global space industry. In July Arianespace cut its launchprices in an effort to minimize SpaceX’s market advantage, though its prices are reportedlystill nowhere near as low as SpaceX’s. Airbus and Safran, a French propulsion systems maker,have entered into a 50-50 joint venture aimed at designing a new, less costly rocket forEurope. Several European space officials and potential future customers have called for arethinking and possible redesign of Arianespace’s new Ariane 6 rocket.

　　这些航天公司不光是嘴上说说而已。7月份，Arianespace下调了航天器发射价格，目的是尽量削弱SpaceX在市场上的优势。但据报道，和SpaceX的低廉价格相比，Arianespace还差得很远。空客和法国推进系统制造商赛峰集团(Safran)已经建立了一家合资公司，双方各出资一半。这家合资公司旨在为欧洲设计一款成本较低的新型火箭。欧洲航天部门的几名官员和一些潜在未来客户都已要求Arianespace重新考虑乃至重新设计它新推出的阿丽亚娜6型(Ariane 6)火箭。

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