SpaceX首次涉足軍事 爲國防部發射偵察衛星

SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by Elon Musk, launched a top-secret spy satellite for the US Department of Defense early last Monday morning.

上週一清晨，埃隆·馬斯克創立的航天公司SpaceX爲美國國防部發射了一顆高度機密的偵察衛星。

The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the NROL-76 satellite, lifted off at 7:15 am from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

當地時間7時15分，二級火箭獵鷹9號搭載衛星NROL-76，從佛羅里達州肯尼迪航天中心的39A發射複合體發射升空。

About 10 minutes later, the rocket's first stage landed at SpaceX's Landing Zone 1.

大約10分鐘之後，該火箭的第一級在SpaceX公司的着陸一區安全着陸。

This launch has great symbolic significance for SpaceX, since it's the company's first mission for the Pentagon.

由於這是SpaceX爲五角大樓執行的首個任務，此次發射對該公司具有重要的象徵意義。

For years, the market for launching US military payloads was dominated by the United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

多年來，發射美國軍方衛星的市場一直由洛克希德馬丁和波音的合資公司美國聯合發射聯盟主導。

But SpaceX broke the monopoly in 2015, when the US Air Force certified its Falcon 9 rocket to launch national security space missions.

不過2015年，美國空軍批准獵鷹9號火箭執行國家安全太空發射任務時，SpaceX打破了這一壟斷。

Since then, the California-based company has also won two contracts to launch Global Positioning System satellites for the US Air Force.

自那之後，這家位於加利福尼亞的公司已經拿下了兩筆爲美國空軍發射全球定位系統衛星的合同。