This year's Top 5 Companies to Watch group has a heavy focus on firms facing challenges that could come to a head in the next year or two. Orbital Sciences Corp. and Virgin Galactic recently experienced flight hardware failures, which in Orbital's case will force key decisions in the coming months affecting its Antares rocket and space station logistics business. Virgin Galactic has promised to forge ahead following the fatal crash of its SpaceShipTwo vehicle, but the duration and outcome of the U.S. government-led failure investigation are bound to affect the company's plans. Virgin Galactic is one of two companies in this year's Top 5 that were in the group last year, the other being Globalstar. The selection considerations this year were different for Virgin Galactic, which last November seemed poised to start commercial service, and essentially the same for Globalstar, which is still awaiting a U.S. government spectrum ruling that has important implications for its future. For perpetually struggling Sea Launch, the question is whether the company can land new business in a shifting market or, if it fails to do so, whether it can survive. Meanwhile, Iridium Communications is entering a crucial stretch next year with the scheduled start of deployment of its all-important second-generation satellite constellation. As always, this year's selections were based largely on subjective rather than measurable objective criteria. Reader feedback is welcome.
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机译：今年的“值得关注的5家公司”小组重点关注面临挑战的公司，这些挑战可能在未来一两年内达到顶峰。 Orbital Sciences Corp.和Virgin Galactic最近经历了飞行硬件故障，就Orbital而言，这将迫使未来几个月的关键决策影响其Antares火箭和空间站物流业务。维珍银河（Virgin Galactic）承诺在其SpaceShipTwo运载火箭致命事故后继续前进，但美国政府主导的故障调查的持续时间和结果必将影响该公司的计划。维珍银河公司是去年进入该集团前五名的两家公司之一，另一家是Globalstar。维珍银河（Virgin Galactic）今年的选择考虑有所不同，维珍银河（Virgin Galactic）似乎准备在11月开始商业服务，而全球之星（Globalstar）基本上是相同的，后者仍在等待美国政府对其未来有重要影响的频谱裁决。对于长期苦苦挣扎的海上发射，问题是该公司是否可以在瞬息万变的市场中开拓新业务，或者如果不这样做，该公司是否可以生存。同时，铱星通信计划明年开始部署其至关重要的第二代卫星星座，这将进入关键时期。与往常一样，今年的选择主要基于主观而非可衡量的客观标准。欢迎读者提供反馈。
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