Reuters Science News Summary

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Possible new dwarf planet identified ​orbiting beyond Pluto

Scientists using a Chile-based telescope have ​identified an icy object orbiting beyond Pluto ‌that ​may join our solar system's small roster of dwarf planets. Researchers said the candidate, named 2026 ED138, has a diameter estimated at between roughly 370 and 930 miles (600 and 1,500 km) ‌and is orbiting about 46 times farther from the sun than Earth. By way of comparison, Pluto orbits at an average of about 40 times farther from the sun than Earth.

Eutelsat expects $11 billion revenue after EU's Starlink rival comes online

Eutelsat expects commercial services ‌revenue of more than €10 billion ($11.1 billion) between 2032 and 2040 as it takes a leading role in the European ‌Union's planned alternative to Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service, it said on Thursday.

The Franco-British operator had been chosen to lead the low Earth orbit (LEO) segment of the EU's IRIS² network that will feature 330 satellites. The first IRIS² satellites are scheduled for launch in 2029, with initial services ⁠expected from ​2030.

Martian meteorite found in the ⁠Sahara is 4.1 billion years old

A meteorite found in 2022 in the Sahara in Mali formed in the Martian crust at least 4.1 billion years ⁠ago, according to scientists, making the reddish igneous rock perhaps the oldest of the 435 meteorites from Mars known on Earth. The researchers said the ​composition of the meteorite, called Teghaza 001, is providing insight into the environment early in the history of Earth's ⁠planetary neighbor, with fresh evidence of liquid water on the surface that bolsters the notion that primordial Mars may have been conducive to microbial life.

NASA rover ⁠detects ​ultrafine dust particles on Mars

Mars is a dusty place. Dust is circulated by everyday winds, whirlwinds called dust devils and larger dust storms raging at local, regional and global scales. Dust is a factor that must be addressed in ⁠any human mission to Mars, and new data from a NASA rover is revealing just how much of a challenge ⁠it may present. NASA's Perseverance ⁠rover, operating in and around an area called Jezero Crater in the Martian northern hemisphere since landing in 2021, has detected the finest particles of dust to date on Earth's planetary neighbor. ‌It documented ultrafine particles ‌as small as around 100 nanometers wide, about 500 times ​thinner than a human hair.