2014年经济学人 卫星产业 冉冉升起的新星

Satellite industry

Stars in their eyes

As the Rosetta mission shows, Britain is getting it right in space

IN A clean room at the Airbus Defence & Space (ADS) factory north of London, scientists are working on LISAPathfinder (pictured), a hexagon-shaped satellite due to be launched next year. The aim of the ambitious space mission is to try, for the first time, to find and measure gravitational waves—ripples in space-time predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity. If that's possible, earthlings would have further evidence that the theory is true, and they should also, eventually, be able to locate black holes more accurately¹.

To do all that, however, LISA first has to get to a “Lagrange point”, a place where spacecraft can float stably while getting no farther from the earth. This is essential for detecting the gravitational waves. The only force that could then ruffle² LISA would be solar wind, explains Justin Byrne, a deputy director of ADS. Solar wind is so light, however, that developing thrusters soft and accurate enough to counteract³ it has been “the trickiest⁴ bit of all”. It would take 1,000 of the thrusters developed for LISA to lift a single piece of paper; LISA has just four.

This is the kind of technological⁵ achievement that has made Britain a leader in satellite design and construction. This week ADS was celebrating the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The probe, Philae, that landed on the comet, was assembled largely in Germany. But Rosetta itself was, for the most part, constructed in the same clean room where LISA is being built; Mr Byrne himself was one of the designers of Rosetta when the mission was first conceived about 20 years ago. Altogether ten British companies were involved in the Rosetta mission, making up 20% of the contractors⁶ used among 14 European countries. Some of the fancy kit⁷ on Philae was British, such as the miniature laboratory built at the Rutherford Appleton laboratory near Oxford⁸ to a design from the Open University.

This outsized contribution to the Rosetta mission is now typical of Britain's place in the firmament⁹ of satellite construction. About one-quarter of the world's commercial communication satellites are built in Britain and 40% of the world's small satellites. Most of those are built by Airbus's Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), the world leader in the field. It has launched 43 satellites since it was started by an academic at Surrey University, Sir Martin Sweeting. The whole space sector¹⁰ directly employs 35,000 people, and the supply-chain accounts for thousands more jobs. London-based Inmarsat is one of the world's largest satellite operators, specialising in mobile telephony. The space sector has a turnover¹¹ of about ￡11 billion a year.

Things have not always been so rosy¹². The ADS plant in Stevenage has itself been a graveyard¹³ for Britain's ambitions in air and space. Originally owned by De Havilland, an aircraft company, it was here during the 1950s that parts for the Comet, the world's first passenger jet, were made. The Blue Streak¹⁴ missile was also built here. Several fatal crashes, however, ended production of the Comet and, with it, Britain's lead in commercial airliners¹⁵. Blue Streak was cancelled due to spiralling costs, effectively ending the country's interest in launching rockets.

Silver lining¹⁶

These were disasters at the time, but in retrospect¹⁷ also rather fortuitous. Britain's space industry was consequently forced to look at small-scale projects and to survive on tight budgets, unlike America's. It also made the British more commercially minded in financing the industry.

The satellite maker¹⁸ SSTL, for example, argues one of its directors, Andrew Bradford, is largely about “changing the economics of space”. It has virtually invented the niche¹⁹ market for less expensive, smaller satellites, selling a lot to developing countries. And it works on science missions like Rosetta. Mr Byrne also argues that ADS has been successful partly because it has a good commercial business, making big satellites for customers like BSkyB, a broadcaster. The innovative²⁰ technology developed for the government-funded science projects like Rosetta is transferable to business, maximising the return on the intellectual investment. For now, it looks like a stellar formula.

1 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

2 ruffle   

v.弄皱，弄乱；激怒，扰乱；n.褶裥饰边

参考例句：

• Don't ruffle my hair.I've just combed it.别把我的头发弄乱了。我刚刚梳好了的。
• You shouldn't ruffle so easily.你不该那么容易发脾气。

3 counteract   

vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some medicine to counteract the effect of the poison.医生给他些药解毒。
• Our work calls for mutual support.We shouldn't counteract each other's efforts.工作要互相支持，不要互相拆台。

4 trickiest   

adj.狡猾的( tricky的最高级 )；（形势、工作等）复杂的；机警的；微妙的

参考例句：

• Many believe this is the trickiest area to navigate. 很多人认为这是最难驾驭的领域。 来自时文部分
• Establishing confidence in a new monetary system was the trickiest part. 建立对新货币体系的信心是其最棘手的部分。 来自互联网

5 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

6 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

8 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

9 firmament   

n.苍穹；最高层

参考例句：

• There are no stars in the firmament.天空没有一颗星星。
• He was rich,and a rising star in the political firmament.他十分富有，并且是政治高层一颗冉冉升起的新星。

10 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

11 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

12 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

13 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。

14 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

15 airliners   

n.客机，班机( airliner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The fog grounded the airliners. 大雾迫使班机停飞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They placed very stable and accurate atomic clocks on regularly scheduled jet airliners. 他们将非常稳定、准确的原子钟装在定期飞行的喷气式班机上。 来自辞典例句

16 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

17 retrospect   

n.回顾，追溯；v.回顾，回想，追溯

参考例句：

• One's school life seems happier in retrospect than in reality.学校生活回忆起来显得比实际上要快乐。
• In retrospect,it's easy to see why we were wrong.回顾过去就很容易明白我们的错处了。

18 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

19 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

20 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。