经济学人下载:太空军事用途 轨道间谍卫星

Science and technology
科学技术

The military uses of space
太空军事用途

Spooks in orbit
轨道间谍卫星

The other space programme
另类太空计划

DESPITE its strong inheritance of military DNA,
尽管美国航空航天局有着浓重的军事血统，

NASA is a civilian agency,
但它仍然是一间民用机构。

set up that way in deliberate contrast to the military-run Soviet space programme.
它的组建方式也刻意与苏联军事太空计划形成对比。

In practice, the distinction is not always so clear-cut:
但实际上，二者之间的界线通常并不那么分明:

NASA has done plenty of work for the Pentagon.
NASA也曾为五角大楼做过大量工作。

But America's armed forces maintain a separate space programme of their own,
但美国军队却保持着自己独立的太空计划，

largely out of the public eye.
大多数不为公众所知。

Although hard numbers are difficult to come by,
尽管确切数字难以获得，

it is thought that the military space budget has matched or exceeded NASA's every year since 1982.
但据说自1982年以来，美国每年的军事空间计划预算一直等同或超过美国航空航天局的预算。

All the signs are that it is roaring ahead.
所有迹象表明，这个数字正在飙升。

The air force's public space budget will increase by nearly 10% next year,
明年，美国空军的公共空间预算将增加近10%，

to $8.7 billion, with much of it going on a new generation of rockets.
达到87亿美元，其中大部分资金将用于新一代火箭的研制。

Bruce Carlson, director of the National Reconnaissance Office, the secretive outfit that runs America's spy satellites,
美国国家军事侦察局是运作美国间谍卫星的秘密机构，

announced in 2010 that his agency was embarking on “the most aggressive launch schedule undertaken in the last 25 years”.
其主管布鲁斯?卡尔森于2010年宣布他的机构已正着手实施“过去25年间所承担的最为积极的发射计划”。

Much of the money goes on satellites—spy satellites for keeping tabs on other countries,
大部分资金将用于卫星研制，包括用于监控其它国家活动的间谍卫星、

communications satellites for soldiers to talk to each other, and even the Global Positioning System satellites,
用于士兵交谈的通讯卫星，甚至包括为士兵和轰炸提供目标导航的全球定位系统卫星，

designed to guide soldiers and bombs to their targets, and now expanded to aid civilian navigation.
现在其应用范围已扩大到援助民用导航。

But there are more exotic programmes.
但也有着更多的特殊计划。

The air force runs one for anti-satellite warfare, designed to destroy or disable enemy birds.
美国空军实施了一项反卫星战计划，旨在破坏敌方卫星或令其失效。

Another includes experimental aircraft, such as the X-37, a cut-down, unmanned descendant of the space shuttle.
另一项计划则包括研制诸如X-37这样的实验飞机，它是美国航天飞机的简化及无人驾驶版本。

The air force will not say what the X-37 is for.
美国空军拒绝透露X-37的用途。

One theory is that it is a spy plane, designed to catch savvy targets that know how to go to ground when spy satellites—which have predictable orbits—are overhead.
有一种说法是X-37是一架间谍飞机，旨在捕获各种精明的目标。这些精明的目标发现间谍卫星位临上空时，能够知道如何隐蔽自己。

Another is that it is intended to destroy satellites, or to drop bombs from orbit.
另一种说法是X-37用于破坏卫星或从轨道上投掷炸弹。

Other nations are flexing their muscles.
其它国家也正显示着自己的军事实力。

American commanders report that China regularly fires powerful lasers into the sky, demonstrating their ability to dazzle or blind satellites.
美军指挥官报告说，中国定期向空中发射强力激光，展示他们有能力迷惑或致盲卫星。

In 2007 a Chinese missile destroyed an old weather satellite, creating a huge field of orbiting debris.
2007年，中国的导弹摧毁了一个旧的气候卫星，产生了巨大的轨道碎片区域。

Afterwards, Russia spoke publicly about its anti-satellite weapons.
随后，俄国公开谈论它的反卫星武器。

This is one space race that is well under way.
这场太空竞赛正在如火如荼地展开着。