这家全球最大的零售商想要向你出售别的东西——来自太空的互联网。
The world's largest retailer wants to sell you something else—Internet from space.
近十年来，亚马逊一直在开发卫星星座，以期从低地球轨道提供宽带互联网服务，目前该公司已准备好揭开其神秘面纱。它正在进入一个被SpaceX及其星链（Starlink）互联网统治了半个多世纪的市场。亚马逊进军卫星互联网的举动正受到密切关注，不仅是普通消费者，从航空公司、航运公司到政府的企业也在关注。事实证明，来自轨道的宽带互联网在许多方面都非常有用，从电子游戏到商业再到战争。
Amazon has been developing a constellation of satellites to deliver broadband Internet from low-Earth orbit for the better part of a decade, and the company is just about ready to pull back the curtain. It is entering a market that SpaceX, with its Starlink Internet, has dominated for the last half-decade. Amazon's debut into satellite Internet is being closely watched, not just by some consumers, but by businesses ranging from airlines to shipping companies to governments. Broadband Internet from orbit has proven broadly useful for a lot of purposes, from video games to commerce to warfighting.
但直到现在，大多数人只能从埃隆·马斯克和SpaceX那里购买。OneWeb仅提供有限的服务，这使得亚马逊成为提供全球高速互联网的唯一真正竞争对手。此外，该公司宽带业务的负责人是拉吉夫·巴迪al（Rajeev Badyal），他曾在星链的早期阶段领导该项目，但马斯克八年前因他推进星链过于谨慎而将其解雇。
But until now, most people had to buy it from Elon Musk and SpaceX. OneWeb has only offered limited services, leaving Amazon as the only real competitor to deliver high-speed Internet globally. Moreover, at the head of the company's broadband efforts is Rajeev Badyal, who led Starlink during its early years, but whom Musk fired eight years ago for moving too cautiously on Starlink.