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A Japanese space startup launched a spacecraft to the moon on Sunday after several delays, a step toward what would be a first for the nation and for a private company.
在经历多次推迟之后，日本一家太空初创企业于周日向月球发射了一艘宇宙飞船，这对日本这个国家，以及私营公司来说，都是迈出的第一步。
ispace Inc's HAKUTO-R mission took off without incident from Cape Canaveral, Florida, after two postponements caused by inspections of its SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
这一名为ispace的公司的HAKUTO-R任务，在佛罗里达州卡纳维拉尔角顺利升空，此前，因对SpaceX猎鹰9号火箭进行检查，导致两度推迟既定发射时间。
More than a hundred people at a viewing party in Tokyo roared in applause when the rocket fired and lifted into the dark skies.
当火箭发射并升入黑暗的天空时，在东京观看这场发射活动的一百多人发出了热烈的掌声。
"I'm so happy. After repeated delays, it's good that we had a proper launch today," said Yuriko Takeda, a 28-year old worker at an electronics company who joined the gathering.
在一家电子公司上班的28岁的武田百合子，也参加了这次发射围观，并表示，“我太高兴了。在经历了多次推迟之后，我们今天顺利发射就很好。”
"I have this image of the American flag from the Apollo landing,
“我有一张阿波罗登月时美国国旗的照片，
so while this is just the launch, the fact that it's a private company going there with a rover is a really meaningful step."
虽然这次只是火箭的发射，但一家私人公司能带着登月舱去那里，这是非常有意义的一步。”
The national space agencies of the United States, Russia and China have achieved soft landings on Earth's nearest neighbour in the past half century but no companies have.
在过去的半个世纪里，美国、俄罗斯和中国的国家航天机构都在地球最近的邻居月球上实现了软着陆，但目前没有任何公司做到过。
The name HAKUTO refers to the white rabbit that lives on the moon in Japanese folklore, in contrast to the Western idea of a man in the moon.
HAKUTO这个名字，指的是日本民间传说中住在月球上的白兔，这也与西方“有人住在月球上”的观念形成鲜明对比。
The project was a finalist in the Google Lunar XPRIZE before being revived as a commercial venture.
HAKUTO-R任务曾进入谷歌XPRIZE探月项目决赛，之后作为商业项目重新启动。
Next year is the Year of the Rabbit in the Asian calendar. The craft, assembled in Germany, is expected to land on the moon in late April.
明年是亚洲农历的兔年。这艘在德国组装的探测器预计将于明年4月底登陆月球。
The company hopes this will be the first of many deliveries of government and commercial payloads.
ispace公司希望这将是第一次交付政府和商业有效载荷。
The ispace craft aims to put a small NASA satellite into lunar orbit to search for water deposits before touching down in the Atlas Crater.
这艘太空飞船的目标是，先将美国国家航空航天局的一颗小型卫星送入月球轨道，寻找是否存在水沉积物，随后在阿特拉斯陨石坑着陆。
