2017考研英语阅读卫星,下一个太空.docVIP

2017考研英语阅读：卫星，下一个太空 　　Leaders Satellites Space: the next startup frontier 　　社论精粹 卫星 太空：下一个 　　Where nanosats boldly go, new businesses will follow—unless they are smothered with excessiveregulations 　　微型卫星大胆地去哪儿，新的商业就会跟去哪儿—除非他们受到过度监管的阻碍 　　AROUND 1,000 operational satellites are circling the Earth, some of them the size and weight of a large car. In the past year they have been joined by junior offspring: 100 or so small satellites, some of them made up of one or more 10cm 4-inch cubes. They may be tiny, but each is vastly more capable than Sputnik, the first man-made satellite launched by Russia in 1957. And many more are coming. 　　大约1000颗运转着的卫星正围绕着地球旋转，其中有些卫星的体积和重量和汽车差不多。去年，初级后代加入了他们的队伍：100颗左右的小卫星，他们中有些是由一个或多个10厘米 4英尺 的立方体组成。他们可能很小，但是他们每个都比1957年前苏联发射的首颗人造卫星Sputnik功能性强得多。而且还有更多这样的卫星即将面世。 　　Space hardware used to cost so much that it was available only to generals, multinationals and the most privileged scientists. No more. Many of these nanosats, as small satellites weighing no more than a few kilograms are called, have been launched for small companies, startups and university departments, sometimes with finance raised on crowd funding websites. Their construction costs can be down in the tens of thousands of dollars, which makes them thousands of times cheaper than todays big satellites. Admittedly, there is much they cannot do, but with that sort of price differential, and some ingenious use of the abilities they do have, they could be surprisingly competitive players on a number of fronts. In the next five years another 1,000 nanosats are expected to be launched. 　　过去，太空硬件太贵了，只有将军，跨国公司和最享有特权的科学家才能有权使用。没有其他人有权使用。许多这种微型卫星——由于小卫星质量不超过几千克而得此名——已经提供给小公司、新创办的公司和大学一些系发射，有时在集体融资网站集资。他们的制造成本可以降低好几万美元，这使得他们比目前的大卫星便宜成千上万倍。不可否认的，这些卫星有许多办不了的事儿，但是在那种价格差下，加以巧妙使用他们已有的功能，他们可以在许多方面出乎意料地成为有竞争力的选手。在接下来的五年，还有1000颗微型卫星有望被发射出去。 　　Two trends are setting up nanosats for further success. Like people working on everything from robots to 3D printers, nanosat builders are harvesting the be