Name: 話題製造機馬斯克的「星鏈」引發衛星太空競賽 (How Elon Musk's Starlink Launched a Satellite Space Race)
Uploaded: 2024-06-21T06:33:12.000Z
Duration: 7 min 29 s

基礎被動語態

The largest single constellation of satellites orbiting our planet is run by a mercurial individual who needs no introduction. It's this guy.

環繞地球運行的最大的衛星星座由一個無需多言的人掌管。就是這個人。

His company, SpaceX, operates Starlink, whose fleet of satellites beam high-speed internet from the sky to about two and a half million people in places like this. Rural communities.

他的公司SpaceX營運著Starlink，其衛星艦隊從空中將高速互聯網傳送到像這樣的地方，為大約250萬人提供服務。農村社區。

Or out at sea. Or living the van life. Or on a battlefield.

或者出海或過著貨車生活。或是在戰場上

It achieves this by maintaining a vast relay network in low-Earth orbit. That's the area higher than a jetliner, but below a GPS satellite.

它通過在低地軌道上維持一個龐大的中繼網絡來實現這一目標。這個區域比噴氣式客機還高，但低於全球定位系統衛星。

Right now, Starlink has more than 5,600 satellites in orbit, and that number could probably be out of date while you're watching this video. At one point, SpaceX envisioned launching up to 42,000 satellites.

目前，"星鏈 "在軌衛星已超過 5600 顆，當你觀看這段視頻時，這個數字可能已經過時了。SpaceX 一度設想發射多達 42,000 顆衛星。

And it accomplished all this in less time than it took James Cameron to make a second

而它完成這一切所花的時間，比詹姆斯-卡梅隆製作第二部電影所花的時間還要短。

But this speed and relative success has raised eyebrows. Concerned ones in government. And excited ones in the boardrooms of potential rivals.

但這種速度和相對成功引起了人們的關注。政府中的擔憂。而在潛在競爭對手的會議室裡，他們也興奮不已。

So with the commodification of low-Earth orbit officially underway, can Starlink survive increased scrutiny and keep its head start?

那麼，隨著低地軌道商品化的正式啟動，"星鏈 "能否經受住越來越嚴格的審查並保持其領先地位呢？

The story of Starlink is one of rapid innovation. It's essentially a company trying to disrupt a somewhat complacent marketplace with an entirely new idea and a new ambitious model for providing internet coverage.

Starlink 的故事是一個快速創新的故事。它本質上是一家公司，試圖用全新的理念和雄心勃勃的新模式來提供互聯網覆蓋，從而顛覆有些固步自封的市場。

It's also a story that necessarily starts with SpaceX, and hence Mr. Musk himself.

這也是一個必須從 SpaceX 開始的故事，是以也是馬斯克先生本人的故事。

SpaceX has been going nearly 20 years now. Starlink as a concept was first mentioned by Elon in 2014, and in 2015 the plan really started to be developed in terms of building with satellites. Four years later, the first 60 were in the air, and now there are 5,000 globally.

SpaceX 至今已走過近 20 個年頭。2014 年，埃隆首次提到了 "星鏈"（Starlink）這一概念，2015 年，該計劃真正開始了衛星建設。四年後，第一批 60 顆衛星升空，現在全球已有 5000 顆。

That's fast. And speed's kind of Starlink's thing. Customers can get set up in minutes, and download speeds, although known to fluctuate, are on par with a basic fibre optic connection from your local ISP.

太快了而速度正是星鏈公司的強項。用戶可以在幾分鐘內完成設置，下載速度雖然會有波動，但與在地互聯網服務提供商的基本光纖連接速度相當。

Having a Starlink as a consumer is effectively taking your bot, pushing it out, and you go out into a field, and you're ready to do business.

擁有 "星鏈 "作為消費者，實際上就是把你的機器人推出去，然後你就可以到野外開展業務了。

And this is what we get from Starlink. Instruction, three pictures, no words.

這就是我們從 "星鏈 "得到的東西。說明書，三張圖片，沒有文字。

This side is Starlink, going up to space and back. This side is the fibre broadband. So

這邊是 "星際鏈路"，通往太空，然後返回。這邊是光纖寬帶所以

Starlink is more than twice as quick on the download, and on the upload, about the same.

星鏈》的下載速度是後者的兩倍多，上傳速度則差不多。

At six years old, Starlink's a relative newcomer to the $138 billion satellite services industry, which for decades has relied on satellites in geostationary orbit.

星鏈公司成立已有六年，對於價值 1,380 億美元的衛星服務業來說是一個相對較新的公司，該行業幾十年來一直依賴於地球靜止軌道上的衛星。

The disadvantage with these kinds of constellations is that these geo-satellites are massive.

這類星座的缺點是這些地球衛星體積龐大。

They're built to be the size of buses, and they take years to develop and build, and then years to launch and operate, and they can be quite expensive. Prior to Starlink, most of these geo-constellations would tap into modified sat phones. So you probably had seen them, big bulky phones that were specifically geared towards tapping into the satellites that were thousands of miles away.

它們的大小與公共汽車相當，開發和建造需要數年時間，發射和運行也需要數年時間，而且可能相當昂貴。在 "星鏈 "之前，這些地球同步衛星大多使用改裝過的衛星電話。所以你可能見過它們，笨重的大手機專門用來接入千里之外的衛星。

Which means they're not really suitable to form the backbone of a high-speed internet service.

這意味著它們並不適合作為高速互聯網服務的骨幹網。

Starlink, in contrast, actually sits in low earth orbit. The reason you do that is you reduce the latency speed, and latency is the time it takes for the data to move between the satellite and the Starlink terminal on the ground.

相比之下，Starlink 實際上位於低地球軌道上。這樣做的原因是為了降低延遲速度，而延遲是指數據在衛星和地面的 Starlink 終端之間傳輸所需的時間。

It's similar to why your smartphone's 5G speeds tend to be faster the closer you are to a cell tower. Using satellites instead gives Starlink a first mover advantage. And of course being the child of a rocket company doesn't hurt.

這就好比為什麼離信號塔越近，智能手機的 5G 速度就越快。而使用衛星則為 Starlink 帶來了先發優勢。當然，作為火箭公司的孩子也不會有什麼壞處。

They own their own rocket, and that is just kind of a straight shot to orbit to get their

他們擁有自己的火箭，可以直接射入軌道，將他們的

Starlink satellites where they need to go. Starlink does have that advantage for potentially bringing in more revenue for a company like SpaceX that is limited when it comes to the kinds of customers it can advertise to for its Falcon 9 rocket launch.

星鏈"（Starlink）衛星可以到達它們需要到達的地方。對於像 SpaceX 這樣的公司來說，Starlink 確實有可能為其帶來更多的收入。

The potential for facilitating telecommunications from space hasn't escaped other massive tech companies. Google tried it with stratospheric balloons, and Meta with drones, but neither hit the mark.

其他大型科技公司也意識到了從太空促進電信發展的潛力。谷歌曾用平流層氣球、Meta 曾用無人機嘗試過，但都沒有成功。

And there's at least one other billionaire thinking along the same lines and ready to nip at Starlink's heels. This guy. Who you may have bought a book from.

至少還有一位億萬富翁也有同樣的想法，並準備狙擊星聯的腳跟。這個人你可能向他買過一本書

Project Kuiper is the most obvious direct competitor to SpaceX. They have plans to launch 3,000 satellites into low-earth orbit by 2029. They want half of those up by 2026. Amazon has a lot of the same benefits that SpaceX has. They have their own rocket company, in that Jeff Bezos' New Origin will be one of the rocket providers that sends their satellites up into space.

高柏計劃是 SpaceX 最明顯的直接競爭對手。他們計劃到 2029 年將 3000 顆衛星送入低地軌道。他們希望其中的一半能在 2026 年之前升空。亞馬遜擁有很多與 SpaceX 相同的優勢。他們有自己的火箭公司，傑夫-貝索斯（Jeff Bezos）的 "新起源 "公司（New Origin）將成為將他們的衛星送入太空的火箭供應商之一。

The ease of access to Starlink also means it's harder to know where and how it's being used.

星鏈 "的易用性也意味著更難了解其使用地點和方式。

Starlink has been used in Ukraine during the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. There were threats of towing it off by Elon at one point over seemingly moral concerns. There have also been efforts by Russia to block the service.

在俄烏衝突期間，"星鏈 "曾在烏克蘭使用。埃隆曾一度威脅要把它拖走，似乎是出於道德方面的考慮。俄羅斯也曾試圖阻止這項服務。

Now that has come with some controversy because it was revealed that Elon Musk actually opted not to provide connectivity during a skirmish between Ukraine and Russia.

現在，這也帶來了一些爭議，因為據透露，在烏克蘭和俄羅斯發生小規模衝突期間，埃隆-馬斯克實際上選擇了不提供連接。

It's not the only conflict zone that Starlink is being used in. There's a wide-ranging set of conflicts and war zones where these things are finding themselves in the wrong hands.

星鏈 "並非只在衝突地區使用。在各種各樣的衝突和戰區中，這些東西都落入了壞人之手。

It's been reported by Bloomberg that they're being used in Sudan, in Somalia.

據彭博社報道，它們被用於蘇丹和索馬里。

Amazon could figure out the security issues before it launches, and that could give it a competitive edge.

亞馬遜可以在產品推出之前解決安全問題，這將為其帶來競爭優勢。

Starlink is growing. SpaceX recently boasted 2.6 million customers of the system, and the company has also been making deals with businesses and the Defense Department. They recently made a deal with John Deere.

Starlink 正在發展壯大。SpaceX 公司最近誇耀說，該系統擁有 260 萬用戶，該公司還與企業和國防部達成了交易。他們最近與約翰迪爾公司達成了一項協議。

Starlink is currently the best service for a lot of these customers. If you can find a comparable service that's almost as cheap and provides roughly the same service, you're certainly going to be more tempted to move towards it.

目前，"星鏈 "對很多用戶來說是最好的服務。如果你能找到幾乎同樣便宜、提供大致相同服務的同類服務，你肯定會更願意選擇它。

 SpaceX and other companies pursuing global satellite internet have espoused the potential marketplace. There are potentially billions of people that are unconnected by traditional internet right now that could tap into this system. The question really becomes, you know, can they afford it? And is that enough to sustain Starlink and make it a profitable business?

SpaceX 和其他致力於發展全球衛星互聯網的公司都看好這一潛在市場。目前，可能有數十億人還沒有接入傳統互聯網，他們可以利用這一系統。問題在於，他們是否負擔得起？這是否足以支撐 "星際鏈接"，並使其成為一項有利可圖的業務？