STARSET_MirrorGiant Centrifuge Startup That Wants to Hurl Things Into Space Raises $71 Mil
SpinLaunch said on Tuesday that it raised $71 million in funding during its second round of financing. The California-based company said it will use the funds to further develop an unconventional system for launching small payloads to Earth orbit.
SpinLaunch周二表示，该公司在第二轮融资中筹集了7100万美元。这家总部位于加州的公司表示，它将利用这笔资金进一步开发一种非常规系统，将小型有效载荷发射到地球轨道。
With the Series B funding round complete, SpinLaunch has now raised a total of $150 million, according to a company press release. The startup says it’ll use the money to “continue the development and commercialization of the world’s first kinetic launch system and satellite product line, designed to provide low-cost, high-cadence, environmentally responsible space access.”
据SpinLaunch的一份新闻稿称，随着B轮融资的完成，SpinLaunch目前已筹集到总计1.5亿美元的资金。这家初创公司表示，它将用这笔钱“继续开发和商业化世界上第一个动力发射系统和卫星产品线，旨在提供低成本、高节奏、对环境负责的太空访问。”
SpinLaunch, founded in 2014 by company CEO Jonathan Yaney, is currently developing a unique system for delivering small payloads to low Earth orbit. The kinetic launch system is essentially a gigantic centrifuge that catapults objects to high altitudes. Once at stratospheric heights, a propulsion stage takes over to complete the journey to low Earth orbit.
SpinLaunch由公司首席执行官乔纳森·亚尼(Jonathan Yaney)于2014年创立，目前正在开发一种独特的系统，用于向近地轨道运送小型有效载荷。动能发射系统本质上是一个巨大的离心机，将物体弹射到高海拔。一旦到达平流层的高度，推进阶段就会接管，完成到近地轨道的旅程。
The recently concluded round of funding and the influx of cash further legitimizes the concept, despite the fact that SpinLaunch has yet to deliver a single payload to space. NASA has also taken notice of the company, signing an agreement to run tests at SpinLaunch’s A-33 Suborbital Mass Accelerator in the New Mexico desert. SpinLaunch is also working with Airbus, Google Alphabet, Kleiner Perkins, and other private companies, so yeah, this appears to be the real deal—at least on paper.
最近结束的一轮融资和大量资金的流入进一步证明了这一概念的合理性，尽管SpinLaunch还没有向太空交付过一次有效载荷。美国国家航空航天局(NASA)也注意到了这家公司，并签署了一项协议，在新墨西哥沙漠中使用SpinLaunch公司的A-33亚轨道质量加速器进行测试。SpinLaunch还与空客、谷歌Alphabet、凯鹏华盈(Kleiner Perkins)和其他私人公司合作，所以，是的，这似乎是一笔真正的交易——至少在纸面上是这样。
The 108-foot-wide (33-meter) A-33 mass accelerator is a functional one-third scale model of the version SpinLaunch is hoping to build. The arm inside the full-scale version is expected to spin at speeds reaching 5,000 miles per hour (8,000 km/hr), allowing it to launch satellites weighing 440 pounds (200 kg). The system will result in a 10-fold reduction in the overall cost to launch and a 70% reduction in the use of fuel compared to conventional rockets, according to the company.
108英尺宽(33米)的a -33质量加速器是SpinLaunch公司希望建造的版本的功能性三分之一比例模型。全尺寸型号的火箭臂的旋转速度有望达到5000英里/小时(8000公里/小时)，使其能够发射重达440磅(200公斤)的卫星。据该公司称，与传统火箭相比，该系统将导致发射总成本减少10倍，燃料使用量减少70%。
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