SpaceX no longer needs NASA, and that's a problem for America's space agency

本文为原文前 6,000 字符的节选翻译，完整内容请查看原文。

For nearly a quarter of a century, Elon Musk and his essential partner at SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell, viewed the United States government as El Dorado, the mythical city of gold. Like machete-wielding treasure hunters, Musk and Shotwell hacked through a tangled jungle filled with lurking carnivores such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, as well as bean counters and regulators.

在近四分之一个世纪里，埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）及其在 SpaceX 的核心合作伙伴格温·肖特韦尔（Gwynne Shotwell）一直将美国政府视为传说中的黄金之城“埃尔多拉多”。他们如同挥舞着大砍刀的寻宝者，在充满波音（Boeing）和洛克希德·马丁（Lockheed Martin）等潜伏“食肉动物”，以及精打细算的会计师和监管机构的丛林中披荆斩棘。

Over time, against long odds, the pair cleared a path for SpaceX to contracts at NASA and the US military. They sued when things did not go their way. They hollered about unfair playing fields. Most importantly, they delivered quality space products to the US government for less. And so, after a while, SpaceX found El Dorado and a city of contracts.

随着时间的推移，在重重困难之下，两人为 SpaceX 赢得了 NASA 和美国军方的合同。当事情不顺时，他们会提起诉讼；他们会大声疾呼竞争环境不公。最重要的是，他们以更低的成本为美国政府提供了优质的航天产品。就这样，一段时间后，SpaceX 找到了属于他们的“埃尔多拉多”，并获得了海量的合同。

Then they started winning everything. So much so that the relationship between the customer and contractor began to change. Slowly at first, but ever more quickly, SpaceX went from needing the US government as an indispensable customer to becoming an indispensable contractor for the nation.

随后，他们开始赢得一切。以至于客户与承包商之间的关系开始发生变化。起初进展缓慢，但随后速度越来越快，SpaceX 从需要美国政府作为不可或缺的客户，转变为国家不可或缺的承包商。

The pendulum has swung so far now that SpaceX seems increasingly disinterested in the US government for most contracts outside of data services, such as Starshield for military communications and observations. “I guess I am still in denial that there is a divorce pending,” said Lori Garver, a deputy NASA administrator during the Obama White House years who was instrumental in expanding the agency’s use of commercial contracts with companies like SpaceX.

如今，天平已经发生了巨大的倾斜，除了数据服务（如用于军事通信和观测的“星盾”项目）外，SpaceX 对美国政府的大多数合同似乎越来越不感兴趣。“我想我仍然不愿相信一场‘离婚’即将到来，”奥巴马政府时期的 NASA 副局长洛里·加弗（Lori Garver）说道，她在扩大 NASA 与 SpaceX 等公司的商业合同使用方面发挥了重要作用。