Is it Elon Stark or Tony Musk?
在Space X載人火箭順利完成任務後，該公司在未來數十年進一步成為五角大廈的合作夥伴。
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文章來自《華爾街日報》:
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has vaulted into an elite tier of military suppliers, winning a multibillion-dollar contract that makes it one of the Pentagon’s two primary satellite-launch providers through most of the decade.
1. vault into 躍升為
2. an elite tier of 一流的
3. military supplier 軍事供應商
4. multibillion-dollar contract 數十億美元的合同
5. Pentagon 五角大樓
美國國防部所在地，由於其特殊的職能，所以有時「五角大廈」一詞不僅僅代表這座建築本身，也常常用作美國國防部、甚至美國軍事當局的代名詞。
6. satellite-launch provider 衛星發射供應商
馬斯克(Elon Musk)的SpaceX公司已經躍升為一流的軍事供應商，贏得了一份金額達數十億美元的合同，使其成為未來十年大部分時間五角大樓兩家主要衛星發射供應商之一。
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In a significant boost to Mr. Musk’s closely held Southern California company, the Air Force on Friday said SpaceX will split an estimated nearly three dozen launches through 2027 with United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. Until a few years ago, ULA had a virtual monopoly on such business, which focuses on the highest-priority military and intelligence payloads.
7. significant boost 重大提振
8. the Air Force 美國空軍
9. split (v.) (使)分開 (這裡指分享業務)
10. nearly three dozen 三十多次 (用three dozen 取代thirty times 寫法時見於新聞中)
11. join venture 合資企業
12. monopoly(n.) 壟斷
13. the highest-priority 最高優先級
14. intelligence payloads 情報載荷(的業務)
美國空軍(Air Force)上周五表示，SpaceX將在2027年年底之前與聯合發射聯盟(United Launch Alliance, 簡稱ULA)分享30多次發射的合同，這對馬斯克麾下這家少數人持股的南加州公司來說是一個重大提振。ULA是波音公司(Boeing Co., BA)和洛克希德-馬丁公司(Lockheed Martin Co., LMT)的合資企業。ULA一度幾乎壟斷了這類專注於最高優先級軍事和情報載荷的業務，直至幾年前。
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Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the formal name of Mr. Musk’s company, is slated to conduct 40% of the missions, achieving a long-cherished goal of breaking into the ranks of the Pentagon’s most trusted corporate partners. The Boeing-Lockheed joint venture is slated to carry out the rest of the launches. Initial awards for each company exceeded $300 million, though industry estimates of the eventual combined contract value range from more than $4 billion to about $6 billion.
15. be slated (to) 預計，預定；安排
16. long-cherished goal 夢寐以求的目標
17. break into 打入
18. most trusted corporate partners 最值得信賴企業合作夥伴
19. carry out = conduct (v.) 執行 (這裡都是只執行發射任務)
20. initial awards 初始合同金
馬斯克這家公司的正式名稱為Space Explore Technologies Corp.，該公司將執行40%的上述發射任務，從而實現打入五角大樓最值得信賴企業合作夥伴行列這一夢寐以求的目標。波音與洛克希德-馬丁的上述合資公司將進行其餘的發射。每家公司的初始合同金都超過了3億美元，業內估計最終的合同總金額超過40億美元。
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Blue Origin Federation LLC, run by Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, made a big push to snare some of the launches, stressing the strength of its technology and financial commitment to improve it further. The fourth bidder was Northrop Grumman Corp.
21. make a big push 積極推動
22. snare(v.) 捕捉，誘捕 (這裡指積極爭取，用盡方式取得合同)
23. financial commitment 財務承諾
24. bidder 競標者
亞馬遜公司(Amazon.com Inc., AMZN)創始人貝佐斯(Jeff Bezos)運營的Blue Origin Federation LLC曾積極行動以從上述發射合同中分得一杯羹，該公司強調了其技術實力以及在進一步改進技術方面的財務承諾。第四家競標者是諾斯洛普格拉曼公司(Northrop Grumman Co., NOC)。
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Industry officials said the announcement appears to give SpaceX a long-term advantage over Blue Origin to become the dominant new entrant in the lucrative market for launching big U.S. national-security payloads over coming decades. Both companies consider government launches strategically important for their future prospects, and the military plans to reopen competition for later missions.
25. long-term advantage 長期優勢
26. dominant 佔主導地位的
27. new entrant 新進入者
28. lucrative market 利潤豐厚的市場
29. strategically important for… 對…具重要的戰略意義
30. future prospects未來的前景
業內官員表示，美國空軍的上述聲明似乎讓SpaceX獲得了相對於Blue Origin的長期優勢，將成為未來幾十年利潤豐厚的美國國家安全載荷發射市場上佔主導地位的新進入者。這兩家公司都認為政府的發射合同對他們未來的前景具有重要的戰略意義，軍方計劃重新啟動對以後任務的競標。
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