■林國賓
原文：
Two small spaceports in the far north of Sweden and Norway are racing to launch the first satellites from mainland Europe into space as the region looks to reduce its reliance on U.S. players.
U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" policies and the war in Ukraine have prompted Europe to ramp up its independent capabilities in a variety of areas, including defence and space operations.
Amid fears that Elon Musk-Trump's one-time ally- could limit Ukraine's access to SpaceX's 7,000 Starlink satellites that are vital for the country's communications, Europe has been rushing to find alternatives.
But there's a mountain to climb. In 2024, the U.S. carried out 154 launches of hardware into orbit, while Europe managed just three. Out of $143 billion in global public investment in space ventures last year, Europe accounted for only 10%, an EU study shows.
The trend towards lower Earth orbit satellites-which are cheaper and offer better connections but need to be deployed in larger numbers to maximise coverage - also poses challenges.
中譯：
位於瑞典與挪威國境之北的2座小型太空發射場，正在角逐成為首個從歐洲大陸發射衛星進入太空的基地，因歐洲希望降低對美國業者的依賴。
美國總統川普的「美國優先」政策，以及烏克蘭戰爭，已促使歐洲在諸多領域提升自主能力，包括國防與太空作業。
隨著外界擔憂川普的昔日盟友馬斯克，可能限制烏克蘭使用對該國通訊至關重要的Space X公司7000顆「星鏈」衛星，歐洲正加緊尋找替代方案。
但這條路挑戰重重。2024年，美國共執行154次將設備送入軌道的發射，而歐洲僅有3次。歐盟一份研究顯示，去年全球對太空產業的公共投資總額達 1430億美元，歐洲僅占10%。
此外，衛星技術正朝向低地球軌道發展，這類衛星成本更低、連線品質更佳，但需要部署更多數量才能覆蓋更廣範圍，這也為歐洲構成額外挑戰。
-關鍵軍語-
※spaceport：太空發射場
※lower Earth orbit satellite：低地球軌道衛星