太空产业

如今的太空产业主要基于卫星的建造、发射、运营以及相关的基础设施，服务于通信、广播、定位以及地球观测等相关业务。

The space industry today is based largely on building , launching and operating satellites and their associated infrastructure , for communications , broadcasting , positioning and earth observation .

上周三早晨，伊隆·马斯克的火箭公司SpaceX宣布其计划在2018年向火星发射太空飞船。这是目前私人公司中最具野心的目标。私人太空旅游产业并非由政府资助，而是由富翁们出资。

Elon Musk 's rocket company , SpaceX , announced last Wednesday morning it planned to send one of its spaceships to Mars by 2018 , the most ambitious goal set to date by the burgeoning private space travel industry funded by billionaires instead of governments .

尽管公众的注意力大多集中在政府资助的太空活动（载人飞行任务，还有如火星漫游者、轨道空间望远镜以及探索太阳系外星系等非载人科学任务）上，商业化的太空产业仍持续发展。

While most public attention focuses on government-funded space activities – manned missions and unmanned scientific missions such as Martian rovers , orbiting telescopes and exploration of the outer solar system – the commercial space industry continues to grow .