专家称太空商机正崛起

一场座谈会上，专家们表示，新兴的太空探索商机正在取得进展，但这个市场领域要迈向成熟，还有好长一段路要走。据了解，现在有私人企业积极投入补给国际太空站(International Space Station，ISS)的任务，而且成本只是以往美国政府提供之服务的一小部分；接下来的重要里程碑则是美国太空总署(NASA)的Orion载人航天飞机招标案。 NASA 阿姆斯研究中心(Ames Research Center)总监Simon "Pete" Worden，在日前举行的New Space研讨会上，谈到ISS补给任务时表示：“这类业务发展顺利，太空经济正在兴起，而我们政府单位必须要习惯的事实是，我们将不再是一切只靠自己。” 他指出，新创公司如来自美国硅谷的Moon Express，正与密歇根大学(University of Michigan)合作开发纳米级卫星(nano-satellites)，并在众筹网站Kickstarter募集资金；此外还有来自以色列与中国上海的厂商投入太空相关技术。“你应该不会认为立陶宛是太空强国，但他们已经发射了一些卫星，我不久前才见过该国总理；”Worden表示：“我最近还拜访了约旦；全世界各地都有顶尖的太空技术专家。” 全美大学太空研究联合会(Universities Space Research Association)空军计划总监Daniel Mosqueda则表示，美国空军(US Air Force)最近正在评估将猎鹰(Falcon)火箭商业化：“我不能提到某些正在与我们合作的公司名称，因为其中有几家是私人企业；不过我们将可把成本从上亿美元，节省到只有几百万美元。” Mosqueda表示，美国空军也打算透过私人企业将一些军用卫星发射到太空：“这在过去是不曾发生过的，但现在有可能了。”他并指出，政府削减太空计划相关预算其实是件好事：“这迫使我们厘清该做的事情，而且现在我们正在更密切搜寻较低成本的火箭发射与运送系统。” 商业太空飞行基金会(Commercial Spaceflight Federation)主席Michael Lopez-Alegria指出，太空活动商业化已经走了很长的一段路，因为参与者在过去被认为是偏执狂或是阴谋论者，而总之相关厂商需要非常着重安全 性：“这类商业活动的成功仍有待证明，而如果会伤害到人，你不可能会赚到钱。” 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译：Judith Cheng 参考英文原文：Space Business Rising, Experts Say，by Rick Merritt {pagination} Space Business Rising, Experts Say Rick Merritt SAN JOSE, Calif. — Emerging efforts to forge a business out of exploring space are making progress, but the sector still has -- literally -- a long way to go, according to a panel of experts. Private sector companies are now actively resupplying the International Space Station at a fraction of the cost of prior government services. The next big milestone will come when NASA awards contracts for its Orion manned space vehicle programs. Speaking of the ISS resupply missions, NASA Ames Research Center director Simon "Pete" Worden said "this stuff is going really well. "The space economy is emerging and we government guys have to get used to the fact we are not going to make it all happen by ourselves," Worden said at the New Space event here. He pointed to startups such as Moon Express in Silicon Valley, work on nano-satellites at the University of Michigan that generated a Kickstarter campaign, and efforts from Tel Aviv to Shanghai. "You don't think of Lithuania as a space power, but they launched some satellites, and I met their prime minister a few weeks ago." Worden said. "I was in Jordon recently. There's great talent around the world." The US Air Force is evaluating commercial Falcon rockets, said Daniel Mosqueda, Director of Air Force programs for the Universities Space Research Association. "I can't discuss some of the companies we're working with because some of that is proprietary, but we are getting launch costs down to millions instead of hundreds of millions," he said. The Air Force also is mulling opportunities to let private companies launch some of its military payloads into space. "That would have never happened in past, but it's happening now," Mosqueda said. Budget cuts in government space programs "were one of the best things that happened -- it forced us to figure out what to do, and now we are looking much more closely at lower-cost launch and delivery systems," he added. The commercial space movement has come a long way since it was perceived as a bunch of "tin-foil-hat-wearing twinkies," said Michael Lopez-Alegria, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. But companies need to be "steel eyed" about safety. "We still have to demonstrate success. You won't make money if you hurt people," he said. In recognition of that fact, Richard Branson said last year that he and his children will be passengers on the first commercial flight to the edge of space by his company, Virgin Galactica, scheduled for later this year.