Small rockets are the next space revolution | Peter Beck

翻译人员: 校对人员: Helen Chang

So what I'm going to talk about here is, this is a power station.

我们先来看看， 这是个发动机。

So if you've ever wondered

你是否好奇过

what a couple of million horsepower looked like,

几百万马力的引擎长什么样，

that's pretty much what it looks like.

它差不多就是长这样的。

And for me, it's always been about the rocket.

我一直关注火箭。

In fact so much so that when I was growing up,

甚至夸张到，我还在上学的时候，

the school called in my parents to have a bit of a discussion,

学校把我的家长叫去学校谈话，

because they believed that my aspirations

因为他们觉得我的理想

were unrealistic for what I wanted to do.

和我想做的事不现实。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And they suggested that I take up a job at the local aluminium smelter,

他们还建议我 去当地的炼铝厂找个工作，

because I was very good with my hands.

毕竟我手工活儿还挺厉害。

But for me, aluminium, or as you Canadians say, "aluminum,"

但对我来说，铝， 也就是 你们加拿大人说的「绿」（口音），

was not part of my plan at all.

完全不在我的计划内。

So I started building rockets when I was at school.

于是我还上着学就开始做火箭了。

They got bigger and bigger.

我越做越大。

I actually hold an unofficial land speed record

我还破过非官方的降落记录：

for a rocket bike and roller blades

骑火箭单车

while wearing a rocket pack.

和背着火箭背包滑滑轮。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But as the rockets got larger and larger,

但随着这些火箭越做越大，

and more and more complex,

越做越复杂，

I started to be able to think I could do something with this.

我开始想我可以做些什么。

Now today we hear about very large rockets

现在我们天天听到各种大型火箭

taking humans to, or aspiring to take humans to,

载着人类或人类的理想

the Moon, and Mars and beyond.

到月球，到火星，到更远的天边。

And that's really important,

这些的确很重要，

but there's a revolution going on in the space industry,

但其实航天行正在经历一场改革，

and it's not a revolution of the big,

而且这不是一场大型化的改革，

it's a revolution of the small.

而是一场小型化的改革。

So here we have an average-to-large-sized spacecraft in 1990.

这是一架 1990 年的中大型航天器。

We can tell it's 1990 because of the powder blue smocks

从无尘车间工作人员的 粉蓝色罩衫就能看出

for all the trained in the clean rooms in 1990.

这是 1990 年。

But that was your average-to-large-sized spacecraft in 1990.

总之，这就是 1990 年 常见的中大型航天器。

Here's a spacecraft that's going to launch this year.

这是今年要发射的一架航天器。

This particular spacecraft has four high-resolution cameras,

这个特殊航天器 配有四个高清摄像头、

a whole lot of senors, a CoMP communication system.

无数感应器、 协调式多点传输系统。

We're going to launch thousands of these into the solar system

上千个这样的航天器 会被我们发射到太阳系，

to look for extraterrestrial life.

去寻找外星生命。

Quite different.

（两种航天器）截然不同。

You see that Moore's law really applied itself to spacecraft.

显然摩尔定律确实适用于宇宙飞船。

However, the rockets that we've been building

不过我们至今建的火箭

have been designed for carrying these very large,

是为了运载像公交车大小的航天器

school-bus-sized spacecraft to orbit.

进入轨道而设计的。

But this kind of launch vehicle here is not very practical

但这样的运载火箭对于

for launching something that will fit on the tip of my finger.

发射指尖大小的装置却很不实用。

And to give you a sense of scale here,

打个比方，

this rocket is so large that I inserted a picture of myself

这个火箭特别大， 我在里面放了一张我的照片，

in my underpants, in complete confidence,

是一张我穿着内裤的照片，

knowing that you will not be able to find me.

我有信心你们找不到。

That's how big this rocket actually is.

这火箭就是这么大。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Moving on.

我们继续。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

这就是我们的火箭——电子号。

So this is our rocket -- it's called the Electron.

It's a small launch vehicle

这是个小型发射器，

for lifting these small payloads into orbit.

它专门将有效载荷运输到轨道上。

And the key here is not the size of the rocket --

而最重要的其实并不是火箭的大小

the key here is frequency.

最重要的其实是发射次数。

If you actually wanted to democratize space

如果真要将太空大众化，

and enable access to space,

并普及太空的通道，

launch frequency is the absolute most important thing

发射频率其实才是

out of all of this.

重中之重。

Now in order to really democratize space, there's three things you have to do.

外太空大众化一共有三个步骤。

And each one of these three things has kind of the equivalent amount of work.

每一个步骤都有相当的工作量。

So the first is, obviously, you have to build a rocket.

第一，很明显， 你得造个火箭。

The second is regulatory, and the third is infrastructure.

第二是监管。第三是基础设施。

So let's talk a little bit about infrastructure.

让我们来讲讲基础设施。

So this is our launch site --

这是我们的发射场，

it's obviously not Cape Canaveral,

当然，这不是什么卡纳维拉尔角，

but it's a little launch site --

但是这个小小的发射场

in fact, it's the only private orbiter launch site

是世界上唯一的 私人轨道飞行器发射场，

in the entire world, down in New Zealand.

它位于新西兰。

And you may think that's a bit of an odd place

你可能会想在这个地方

to build a rocket company and a launch site.

建造火箭公司和发射场很奇怪。

But the thing is that every time you launch a rocket,

但问题是， 每发射一枚火箭，

you have to close down around about 2,000 kilometers of airspace,

你得关闭方圆两千公里的空域

2,000 kilometers of marine and shipping space,

和两千公里的海域以及航运路线。

and ironically, it's one of the things in America

讽刺的是，这是在美国

that doesn't scale very well,

限制发射场规模的因素之一。

because every time you close down all that airspace,

因为每次清空大片的领空，

you disrupt all these travelers trying to get to their destination.

都会影响到想要达到目的地的旅客。

The airlines really hate rocket companies,

航空公司真的很厌恶火箭公司，

because it costs them around $70,000 a minute, and so on.

毕竟每分钟他们都要承担 七万美金的损失等等。

So what you really need,

所以，你真正需要的是——

if you want to truly have rapid access to space,

如果要频繁往外空发射，

is a reliable and frequent access to space,

且可靠频繁地发射——

你真正需要的是一个孤立的小岛，

is you need, basically, a small island nation

in the middle of nowhere, with no neighbors and no air traffic.

在茫茫世界当中， 没有人烟也没有航线。

And that just happened to be New Zealand.

碰巧新西兰每条都符合。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So, that's kind of the infrastructure bit.

基础设施差不多就是这样。

Now the next bit of that is regulatory.

接下来是监管问题。

So, believe it or not,

不管你信不信，

New Zealand is not known for its space prowess,

新西兰的航天能力并不出众，

or at least it wasn't.

至少之前一直默默无闻。

And you can't just rock on up to a country

当然我们不能随随便便就把一个

with what is essentially considered an ICBM,

算是洲际导弹的武器带到别国，

because unfortunately, if you can put a satellite into orbit,

因为能把卫星发射到轨道上的人，

you can use that rocket for doing significantly nasty things.

也能利用火箭干危险、不当的事。

So quickly, you run afoul of a whole lot of rules and regulations,

很快，各式各样的条款规定，

and international treaties

还有不扩散毁灭性武器的

of the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and whatnot.

国际条约， 这些都是要面临的问题。

So it becomes quite complex.

这一步会变得特别复杂。

So in order for us to launch down in New Zealand,

如果要在新西兰发射，

we had to get the United States government and the New Zealand government

那么美国政府和新西兰政府

to agree to sign a bilateral treaty.

都要签署双边条约。

And then once that bilateral treaty was signed

一旦双边条约签署好了，

to safeguard the technology,

技术产权受到保护了，

the New Zealand government had a whole lot of obligations.

新西兰政府也有了很多义务。

And they had to create a lot of rules and regulations.

他们得要制定许多新的条款和规定。

In fact, they had to pass laws through a select committee

法律要经专责委员会

and through Parliament, ultimately, and to complete laws.

和国会审批才能完毕。

Once you have laws, you need somebody who administers them.

有了法律， 还需要执行法律的人。

So they had to create a space agency.

于是他们设立了航天部门。

And once they did, the Aussies felt left out,

而等设好了， 隔壁的老澳又按捺不住了，

so they had to create a space agency.

于是他们也设立了个航天部门。

And on and on it goes.

就这样一个接一个。

So you see, there's a massive portion of this, in fact,

所以你看，目前为止的很大一部分，

two thirds of it, that does not even involve the rocket.

差不多三分之二， 都和火箭没任何关系。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Now, let's talk about the rocket.

那现在来聊聊火箭。

You know, what I didn't say

我刚刚故意没提，

is that we're actually licensed to launch every 72 hours for the next 30 years.

我们实际上被授权能在未来30年内 每72小时发射一次。

So we have more launch availability as a private company

我们这个私人企业 有更多的发射机会，

than America does as an entire country.

比整个美国加起来还要多。

And if you've got a launch every 72 hours,

但如果每 72 个小时就要发射一次，

then that means you have to build a rocket every 72 hours.

那同样每 72 个小时就得造一枚火箭。

And unfortunately, there's no such thing as just a one-stop rocket shop.

很遗憾， 还没人开一站式的 火箭零件商店。

You can't go and buy bits to build a rocket.

火箭零件不是出了门就能买得到的。

Every rocket is absolutely bespoke,

每枚火箭都是绝对特殊定制的，

every component is absolutely bespoke.

每个零件也都是绝对特殊定制的。

And you're in a constant battle with physics every day.

同时你还得每天和物理条件作斗争。

Every single day, I wake up and I battle physics.

每天我一睁眼就在和物理条件作斗争。

And I'll give you an example of this.

举个例子，

So on the side of our rocket, there's a silver stripe.

我们火箭侧面有银色的条纹。

The reason is because there's avionic components behind there.

条纹后面安装着航天设备的电子组件。

We needed to lower the emissivity of the skin

我们需要把表面的放射率降得很低

so we didn't cook the components from the sunlight.

才能避免组件被太阳灼烧。

So we paint a silver stripe.

于是我们涂了银色条纹。

Unfortunately, as you're sailing through the Earth's atmosphere,

很不幸的是， 在地球的大气层中航行

you generate a lot of static electricity.

会产生很多静电。

And if you don't have conductive paint,

如果没有导电的涂料，

you'll basically send lightning bolts down to the Earth.

那其威力相当于闪电击向地面。

So even the silver paint has to be triboelectrificated

即使是银色的涂料都得摩擦起电化、

and certified and applied and everything,

认证、上色等等。

and the stickers, they're a whole nother story.

更别提那些贴纸了。

But even the simplest thing is always, always a real struggle.

连最基本的东西都极其错综复杂。

Now, to the heart of any launch vehicle is the engine.

引擎是每架运载火箭的心脏。

This is our Rutherford rocket engine.

这是我们的拉瑟福德火箭的引擎。

And usually, you measure rocket engines

一般估测大型火箭引擎的制造时间

in terms of time to manufacture, in terms of sort of months

是用月份，甚至年

or even sometimes years, on really big engines.

来作衡量单位。

但若每 72 小时就发射一次，

But if you're launching every 72 hours --

there's 10 engines per rocket --

一枚火箭十台引擎，

then you need to produce an engine very quickly.

那么生产引擎的效率必须提高。

We needed to come up with a whole new process

火箭引擎即需要一套

and a whole new cycle for the rocket engine.

全新的程序和全新的系统。

We came up with a new cycle called the electric turbo pump,

我们不仅研制了一个叫 电动涡轮泵的系统，

but we also managed to be able to 3D-print these rocket engines.

还 3D 打印了这些火箭引擎。

So each one of these engines is 3D-printed out of Inconel superalloy,

每个引擎都是用铬镍铁合金 3D 打印的，

and right now, we can print round about one engine every 24 hours.

现在大约每 24 小时 就能打印一台引擎。

Now, the electric turbo pump cycle

电动涡轮泵

is a totally different way to pump propellant

是给火箭引擎加燃料的全新系统。

into the rocket engine.

So we carry about one megawatt where the battery is on board.

机器上装电池的地方 功率大约有 1 兆瓦。

And we have little electric turbo pumps, about the size of a Coke can,

而我们的小型电动涡轮泵 也就可乐罐那么大，

not much bigger than a Coke can.

没比可乐罐大多少，

They spin at 42,000 RPM,

每分钟转 42000 圈。

and each one of those Coke-can-sized turbo pumps

而且每个罐头大小的涡轮泵

produces about the same amount of horsepower

能达到一辆日常家庭轿车

as your average family car,

产生的马力。

and we have 20 of them on the rocket.

我们一枚火箭就有二十个泵。

So you can see even the simplest thing, like pumping propellants,

显然就连加燃料这样最基本的事情

always pretty much drives you insane.

都能让人焦头烂额。

This is Electron, it works.

这就是电子号。 我们成功了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause)

（掌声）

Not only does it work once, it seems to work quite frequently,

而且不只是这一次成功了， 长远来看也很可观。

which is handy when you've got a lot of customers to put on orbit.

这对需要高频发射的项目特别重要。

So far, we've put 25 satellites in orbit.

迄今我们发射了 25 颗卫星。

And the really cool thing

最酷的

is we're able to do it very, very accurately.

还是我们极高的精确度。

In fact, we insert the satellites to within an accuracy of 1.4 kilometers.

我们卫星发射的精确度 控制在 1.4 公里以内。

And I guess if you're riding in a cab,

如果你打车，

1.4 kilometers is not very accurate.

1.4 公里确实是个很大的偏差。

But in, kind of, space terms,

但从航天学的角度看，

that equates to around about 180 milliseconds.

那相当于 180 毫秒。

We travel 1.4 kilometers in about 180 milliseconds.

每 180 毫秒行驶 1.4 公里。

So, it's actually quite hard to do.

讲真还是挺难的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

但我现在想聊聊太空垃圾。

Now, what I want to talk about here is space junk.

We've talked a lot during this talk about, you know,

我一直在讲

how we want to launch really frequently, every 72 hours,

我们是怎样希望 每 72 小时发射一次，

and all the rest of it.

以及其他的一些。

However, I don't want to go down in history

但我不想被载入史册是因为

as the guy that put the most amount of space junk in orbit.

我制造了大量的太空垃圾。

This is kind of the industry's dirty little secret here,

我们这行有个小秘密：

就是多数人不知道 其实大部分太空垃圾

what most people don't realize is that the majority of space junk by mass

is not actually satellites, it's dead rockets.

并不是卫星， 而是火箭残骸。

Because as you ascend to orbit,

想要飞升到轨道上，

you have to shed bits of the rocket to get there,

就必须扔弃部分火箭碎片，

with the battle of physics.

与物理条件进行斗争。

So I'm going to give a little Orbital Mechanics 101 here,

我来给各位上一下轨道力学第一课，

and talk about how we go to orbit,

解释解释怎么抵达轨道，

and how we do it really, really differently from everybody else.

还有我们怎么就和别人做得不同了。

So the second stage cruises along

第二级火箭飞行着，

and then we separate off a thing at the top called the kick stage,

然后顶头一个叫末级的东西会被卸下，

but we leave the second stage in this highly elliptical orbit.

但第二级火箭会待在这个椭圆的轨道。

And at the perigee of the orbit, or the lowest point,

到了轨道的近地点，或最低点的时候，

it dips into the Earth's atmosphere and basically burns back up.

第二级火箭会进入地球的大气层

然后燃尽。

So now we're left with this little kick stage,

那现在剩下这个小小的末级，

that white thing on the corner of the screen.

就是屏幕右下角那白色的东西。

It's got its own propulsion system,

它有自己的推进系统

and we use it to raise and trim the orbit

我们用它来提升或修整轨道，

and then deploy the spacecraft.

最后脱离航天器。

And then because it's got its own engine, we put it into a retro orbit,

因为它有自己的引擎， 我们能让它进入回旋轨道，

put it back into a highly elliptical orbit,

放回一个极为椭圆的轨道，

reenter it into the atmosphere and burn it back up,

然后重返大气层，最后燃尽，

and leave absolutely nothing behind.

不落丝毫痕迹。

Now everybody else in the industry is just downright filthy,

至于这行的其它人， 那可就脏乱不堪了，

they just leave their crap everywhere out there.

他们的垃圾落的处处都是。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause)

（掌声）

So I want to tell you a little bit of a story,

我现在告诉你个小故事，

and this is going to date me,

这可能暴露我的年龄。

but I went to a school at the very bottom of the South Island in New Zealand,

我的学校在新西兰南岛的最南端，

tiny little school,

一所很小的学校，

and we had a computer not dissimilar to this one.

我们的电脑和这个差不多。

And attached to that computer was a little black box called a modem,

电脑连接着一个叫 调制解调器的小黑盒，

and every Friday, the class would gather around the computer

每周五全班都会围着电脑，

and we would send an email to another school in America

一起发一封邮件给美国的另一所

that was lucky enough to have the same kind of setup,

配置差不多的学校，

and we would receive an email back.

然后我们会收到回信。

And we thought that was just incredible, absolutely incredible.

我们认为那简直不可思议， 完全难以想象。

Now I often wonder

我现在常想，

如果我穿越回去，

what would happen if I traveled back in time

and I sat down with myself

和当时的自己坐下来，

and I explained all of the things that were going to occur

说由那个连着电脑的小黑盒

because of that little black box connected to the computer.

激起的事情，会发生什么。

You would largely think that it would be complete fantasy.

你可能觉得那就是痴人说梦。

But the reality is that is where we are right now with space.

但现实是我们正处于这个阶段。

We're right on the verge of democratizing space,

我们正处于将太空大众化的边缘，

and we have essentially sent our first email to space.

甚至第一封寄给太空的邮件 已经发出了。

Now I'll give you some examples.

给你举几个例子。

So last year, we flew a small satellite

去年，我们发射了

for a bunch of high school students who had built it.

一群高中生建造的小型卫星。

And the high school students were studying the atmosphere of Venus.

那些高中生正在学习金星的大气层。

Those are high school students launching their own satellite.

这可是高中生自己发射自己的卫星啊。

Another great example,

再举一个例子，

there's a number of really big programs right now

现在有很多非常大的项目，

to place large constellations, of small satellites in orbit

正筹划着建造小型卫星构成的星座

to deliver internet to every square millimeter on the planet.

来为地球的每一个寸土地 提供互联网。

And for pretty much everybody in this room,

对于在做的各位，

that's just handy,

那可真是方便，

because we can stream Netflix anywhere we want.

因为我们能随时随地在线刷剧。

But if you think about the developing countries of the world,

对于发展中国家来讲，

you've just disseminated the entire knowledge of the world

你传播了整个世界的知识

to every single person in the world.

献给世界上的每一个人。

And that's going to have a pretty major effect.

这将是多么大的意义。

Thanks very much.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）