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Besides designing a new spaceship and booster,
除了設(shè)計新的飛船和助推器外，
SpaceX's engineers are busy working on a new, more efficient engine to power them.
SpaceX的工程師也忙于研制一種新的、更高效的發(fā)動機來為它們提供動力
Called Raptor, it is designed to burn super-cold methane rather than the kerosene that fuels the company's current Merlin engines.
設(shè)計猛禽發(fā)動機（Raptor）的目的在于燃燒超冷的甲烷而非煤油，該公司現(xiàn)在的默林火箭發(fā)動機就是燒的煤油。
The Starship will sport six Raptor engines. But each Super Heavy booster will need somewhere between 24 and 37.
Starship將裝有6個猛禽火箭發(fā)動機。但每個超重型助推器將需要24到37個。
The result will be a plumber's nightmare.
其結(jié)果將是管道工的噩夢。
Mr Musk has said, perhaps optimistically,
馬斯克曾表示，或許樂觀來講，
that a Starship prototype might be ready for a test flight all the way to orbit (albeit without its booster stage) within six months.
Starship原型可能將在6個月內(nèi)進行直達軌道的試飛（雖然沒有助推器）。
That would be of a piece with its frenetic development schedule.
這將和其瘋狂的開發(fā)日程一致。
The rocket-building industry is used to generous government contracts that are about job creation as much as rocket creation.
火箭建造行業(yè)已經(jīng)習(xí)慣了慷慨的政府合同，這些合同關(guān)乎就業(yè)和火箭創(chuàng)造。
SpaceX has brought a different sensibility, closer to the rapid-fire development practices of the software industry.
SpaceX已經(jīng)帶來了一種不同的感覺，更接近于軟件行業(yè)的急速開發(fā)實踐。
The Starship prototype, for instance, was welded together in a matter of months.
例如，Starship原型是在幾個月內(nèi)焊接起來的。
It was built out in the open, rather than in a carefully controlled factory environment.
它是在一個開放的環(huán)境而不是一個精密控制的工廠環(huán)境中建造的。
The firm has two teams competing against each other to produce the best design.
公司有兩個團隊相互競爭制造出最好的設(shè)計。
Ideas are tested quickly, taken forward if they work, and scrapped if they do not.
想法得到快速測試，如果有效就會被采納，沒效就會被廢棄。
The Starship was originally to be made of a carbon-fibre composite. But the company soon abandoned that idea, destroying its production tools.
Starship原本是由碳纖維合成物制成的。但是公司很快就放棄了這個想法，毀掉了其生產(chǎn)工具。
Steel, noted Mr Musk, has a higher melting point than carbon fibre, making re-entry easier. It is also an order of magnitude cheaper.
馬斯克指出，鋼鐵的熔點比碳纖維高，因此重返大氣層更容易。其價格也便宜一個數(shù)量級。
To see the contrast, look at the Space Launch System (SLS),
對比一下，看看太空發(fā)射系統(tǒng)（SLS），
another super-heavy rocket designed to ferry astronauts to the Moon and Mars, but which is being built by NASA, America's space agency.
這是另一個設(shè)計用于向月球和火星運送宇航員的超重型火箭，但是由美國太空總署NASA建造。
The SLS has had around $14bn of taxpayers' money since it was authorised in 2011—
自2011年授權(quán)批準(zhǔn)以來，SLS已經(jīng)消耗了納稅人約140億美元—
and that understates the true cost, since the SLS incorporates technology from old, abandoned rocket projects.
其真實成本被低估了，因為SLS將過時的、被遺棄的火箭項目技術(shù)整合到了一起。
It is due to make its first flight in 2020, though NASA has hinted that date may slip.
它將在2020年首飛，雖然NASA暗示日期可能會推遲。
Mr Musk claims that less than 5% of SpaceX's resources are dedicated to Starship. Yet it stands a good chance of beating the SLS into orbit.
馬斯克宣稱SpaceX只有不到5%的資源被用于建造Starship。但它很有可能擊敗SLS進入軌道。
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