周四下午，几项涉及轨道数据中心和高科技能量传输的未来主义太空实验搭乘 SpaceX 的“猎鹰 9 号”火箭发射升空。
Several futuristic space experiments involving orbital data centers and high-tech energy transfers launched into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Thursday afternoon.
新闻背景：在 Transporter-18“拼车”任务搭载的 130 个有效载荷中，包括：Protostar，初创公司 Star Catcher 的一颗卫星，旨在将能量传输给另一颗卫星，以证实轨道电网的想法。
Driving the news: Among the 130 payloads aboard the Transporter-18 "rideshare" mission: Protostar, a satellite from startup Star Catcher meant to transmit energy to another satellite — to bear out the idea of an orbital power grid.
Reason-1，初创公司 Cowboy Space 的一颗卫星，旨在收集太空中的太阳能并将其束射至地球。
Reason-1, a satellite from startup Cowboy Space designed to collect solar energy in space and beam it to Earth.
各方观点：Cowboy Space 创始人兼首席执行官拜朱·巴特（Baiju Bhatt）对 Axios 表示，该理念旨在为没有现有电网的地方提供电力（类似于能源领域的 Starlink），同时也在朝着轨道数据中心的方向努力。
What they're saying: Cowboy Space founder and CEO Baiju Bhatt tells Axios that the idea is to provide power in places without an existing power grid — a kind of Starlink for energy — while also working toward orbital data centers.
巴特补充说，这也存在潜在的军事应用，例如为高续航侦察无人机供电。
There are also potential military applications, Bhatt adds — powering high-endurance surveillance drones, for example.
现实审视：所有这些概念都还处于早期阶段，它们长期以来只存在于图纸和科幻小说中，尚未得到证实。
Reality check: It's early days for all of these concepts, which have long existed on drawing boards and in sci-fi novels but have yet to be borne out.
总而言之：对于地球轨道上有趣的商业努力来说，这是一个蓬勃发展的时期，尽管 SpaceX 逐步淘汰其功勋“猎鹰 9 号”火箭的计划让航天业正急于寻找发射替代方案。
The bottom line: It's a boom time for intriguing commercial efforts in Earth orbit, though SpaceX's plan to wind down its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket has left the space industry scrambling for launch alternatives.