Reuters Science News Summary

Following is a summary of current ​science news briefs.

SpaceX to ​build $100 billion Starship ‌rocket complex ​in Louisiana

SpaceX unveiled plans on Tuesday to build a Starship rocket launch complex ‌in southern Louisiana, a $100 billion effort poised to transform coastal wetlands into a critical base for the company's AI satellite launch ambitions. The 125,000-acre (50,585-hectare) ‌site on Pecan Island, which SpaceX named Starbase, Louisiana, will ‌expand the company's Starship launch operations beyond South Texas and Florida. It will eventually launch thousands of Starship flights a year, SpaceX President Gwynne ⁠Shotwell ​said.

New NASA ⁠telescope to probe dark energy, dark matter and exoplanets

NASA is preparing to launch ⁠its next flagship space observatory, one that scientists plan to use ​to investigate some of the universe's biggest mysteries including ⁠dark energy and dark matter, while also testing gravity at vast scales ⁠and hunting ​for planets beyond our solar system. The launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a roughly $4 billion project, is ⁠planned for Sunday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with ⁠the observatory ⁠to be lofted into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The launch comes nine ‌months ahead of ‌schedule, according to U.S. ​space agency officials.