Among the large new rockets Amazon was counting on, only Europe has delivered
Among the large new rockets Amazon was counting on, only Europe has delivered
在亚马逊寄予厚望的几款大型新型火箭中，只有欧洲的火箭完成了交付
Amazon now has hundreds of flight-ready satellites standing idle in Florida, waiting to join the company’s low-Earth orbit Internet constellation, an Amazon official said Tuesday. “They’re built, and sitting in a payload processing facility waiting for trips to orbit,” said Steve Metayer, vice president of Amazon Leo Production Operations, during a teleconference with reporters. “And we’re currently manufacturing several satellites a day.”
亚马逊的一位官员周二表示，该公司目前有数百颗已准备好飞行的卫星闲置在佛罗里达州，等待加入其低地球轨道互联网卫星群。亚马逊低地球轨道（Leo）生产运营副总裁史蒂夫·梅塔耶（Steve Metayer）在与记者的电话会议上说：“它们已经制造完成，正存放在有效载荷处理设施中，等待前往轨道。我们目前每天都在生产几颗卫星。”
Metayer spoke on the eve of the company’s next mission, during which an Ariane 64 rocket will launch three dozen Amazon Leo satellites into orbit from a spaceport in French Guiana. Liftoff is targeted for 7:53 am ET (11:53 UTC) on Wednesday.
梅塔耶是在公司下一次任务前夕发表上述言论的。届时，一枚阿丽亚娜 64（Ariane 64）火箭将从法属圭亚那的航天发射场将 36 颗亚马逊 Leo 卫星送入轨道。发射时间定于美国东部时间周三上午 7:53（协调世界时 11:53）。
Arianespace steps up
阿丽亚娜航天公司（Arianespace）挺身而出
France-based Arianespace has emerged as a critical partner for Amazon, which, to date, has had the majority of its 331 satellites launched on Atlas V rockets. However, Amazon has just one more mission booked on this rocket, which is operated by United Launch Alliance, as the vehicle is slated for retirement.
总部位于法国的阿丽亚娜航天公司已成为亚马逊的关键合作伙伴。迄今为止，亚马逊 331 颗卫星中的大部分都是通过“宇宙神 5”（Atlas V）火箭发射的。然而，由于该运载火箭即将退役，亚马逊预订的由联合发射联盟（ULA）运营的该型号火箭发射任务仅剩最后一次。
To launch the majority of its Leo constellation, Amazon booked rides on three large, new rockets four years ago: 18 launches on the Ariane 6 rocket, 12 launches on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, with options for 15 additional launches; and 38 launches of the United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. But of these new rockets, only Arianespace has delivered so far, with two launches completed this year, another on Wednesday, and more to come. Neither New Glenn (also owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos) nor Vulcan has launched Amazon satellites yet.
为了发射其大部分 Leo 卫星群，亚马逊在四年前预订了三款大型新型火箭的发射服务：18 次阿丽亚娜 6 号（Ariane 6）火箭发射，12 次蓝色起源（Blue Origin）的“新格伦”（New Glenn）火箭发射（并有 15 次额外发射的选择权），以及 38 次联合发射联盟的“火神”（Vulcan）火箭发射。但在这些新型火箭中，迄今为止只有阿丽亚娜航天公司完成了交付，今年已完成两次发射，周三还将进行一次，未来还会有更多。而“新格伦”（同样由亚马逊创始人杰夫·贝索斯拥有）和“火神”火箭尚未发射过任何亚马逊卫星。
“As for Arianespace, they have definitely stepped up,” Metayer said. “They’re very reliable on their manifest dates, and they’re very reliable and safe on their insertions into orbit. So we definitely would continue to look forward to the next 16 launches with them on our existing contract, and we see them being a player long-term beyond that.”
“至于阿丽亚娜航天公司，他们确实表现出色，”梅塔耶说。“他们在发射日期上非常可靠，在轨道部署方面也非常可靠且安全。因此，我们绝对会继续期待现有合同下的未来 16 次发射，并且我们认为他们未来将长期成为我们的合作伙伴。”
Falling behind schedule
进度落后
Amazon originally planned to reach a high flight cadence by the mid-2020s. While its satellite manufacturing business has delivered, a serious launch bottleneck remains. Only about 10 percent of the company’s planned 3,236 satellite constellation has been deployed to date.
亚马逊最初计划在 2020 年代中期实现高频率的飞行节奏。虽然其卫星制造业务已经达标，但严重的发射瓶颈依然存在。迄今为止，该公司计划部署的 3,236 颗卫星中，仅有约 10% 已经入轨。
Recently, the company withstood another setback when the New Glenn rocket exploded during a test firing on its launch pad in Florida. This accident in late May destroyed the rocket and severely damaged the New Glenn booster’s only launch pad. Bezos has said New Glenn will return to flight this year, but most independent industry observers believe it will require 12 to 18 months to restore the Launch Complex 36A launch pad.
最近，该公司又遭遇了一次挫折：一枚“新格伦”火箭在佛罗里达州的发射台上进行测试点火时发生爆炸。这次发生在 5 月下旬的事故摧毁了火箭，并严重损坏了“新格伦”助推器唯一的发射台。贝索斯曾表示“新格伦”今年将恢复飞行，但大多数独立行业观察家认为，修复 36A 发射台需要 12 到 18 个月的时间。
There is another issue stemming from this failure. Blue Origin has not said anything publicly, but multiple sources have pointed to an issue with the BE-4 rocket engine that powers the first stage of New Glenn as the culprit behind the launch pad accident. This engine also powers the first stage of the Vulcan rocket, so it will complicate that vehicle’s return to flight while also complicating efforts to address strap-on booster issues. Metayer said during Tuesday’s call with reporters that the first Vulcan launch carrying Amazon Leo satellites could still occur in the “late” third quarter of this year.
这次失败还引发了另一个问题。蓝色起源公司尚未公开表态，但多个消息来源指出，为“新格伦”第一级提供动力的 BE-4 火箭发动机是导致发射台事故的罪魁祸首。该发动机同时也为“火神”火箭的第一级提供动力，因此这不仅会使该火箭的恢复飞行变得复杂，也会增加解决助推器问题的难度。梅塔耶在周二与记者的电话会议中表示，搭载亚马逊 Leo 卫星的首次“火神”火箭发射仍可能在今年第三季度的“后期”进行。
What of that New Glenn accident?
“新格伦”事故的影响如何？
Asked about the New Glenn accident and its impact on Amazon’s manifest, Metayer noted that the rocket accounts for less than one quarter of all the launches Amazon has booked. (This may be true, but the large New Glenn rocket is expected to carry at least 50 Amazon Leo satellites to orbit per flight, compared to Ariane’s 36.)
当被问及“新格伦”事故及其对亚马逊发射计划的影响时，梅塔耶指出，该火箭在亚马逊预订的所有发射任务中占比不到四分之一。（这或许属实，但大型“新格伦”火箭预计每次飞行可将至少 50 颗亚马逊 Leo 卫星送入轨道，而阿丽亚娜火箭为 36 颗。）
“We have quite a few other launches we’ve secured across all the multiple vehicles, and we continue to look at opportunities to increase that number,” he said. “We definitely want to see New Glenn come to service, and we definitely look forward to flying on them, but they’re not the only provider. We have a very diversified launch portfolio, intentionally.”
“我们在多种运载工具上都预订了相当多的发射任务，并且我们一直在寻找增加发射数量的机会，”他说。“我们当然希望看到‘新格伦’投入使用，也期待搭乘它飞行，但它并不是唯一的供应商。我们有意构建了一个非常多元化的发射组合。”
Metayer said Amazon remains “on track” to begin rolling out commercial service with the Amazon Leo constellation later this year.
梅塔耶表示，亚马逊仍“按计划”在今年晚些时候开始推出亚马逊 Leo 卫星群的商业服务。