Science News Roundup: SpaceX's unit Starlink secures Indonesia operating permit; Russia starts developing nuclear power unit for joint lunar station with China, RIA says and more

Following is a summary of current science news briefs. SpaceX's unit Starlink secures Indonesia operating permit The satellite unit of Elon Musk's SpaceX has secured a permit to operate in Indonesia, the communications minister told Reuters on Wednesday.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

SpaceX's unit Starlink secures Indonesia operating permit

The satellite unit of Elon Musk's SpaceX has secured a permit to operate in Indonesia, the communications minister told Reuters on Wednesday. Starlink had obtained a permit to operate as an internet service provider for retail consumers and had been given the go-ahead to provide networks, having received a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) permit, minister Budi Arie Setiadi said in an interview.

Russia starts developing nuclear power unit for joint lunar station with China, RIA says

Russia has started developing a nuclear power plant for its planned joint lunar station with China, the RIA news agency cited Yuri Borisov, the head of Russia's space agency Roscosmos, as saying on Wednesday. In March, Borisov said Moscow was considering powering the station using nuclear energy.

Astronomers finally detect a rocky planet with an atmosphere

Astronomers have searched for years for rocky planets beyond our solar system with an atmosphere - a trait considered essential for any possibility of harboring life. Well, they finally seem to have located one. But this hellish planet - apparently with a surface of molten rock - offers no hope for habitability. Researchers said on Wednesday the planet is a "super-Earth" - a rocky world significantly larger than our planet but smaller than Neptune - and it orbits perilously close to a star dimmer and slightly less massive than our sun, rapidly completing an orbit every 18 hours or so.

Crewed flight of Boeing Starliner space capsule pushed back at least 10 more days

The Atlas V rocket carrying Boeing Co's new Starliner space capsule will be rolled back to its hangar to replace a pressure valve, postponing the long-awaited first crewed test flight of the spacecraft for at least 10 more days, NASA said on Tuesday. The new targeted launch date for the mission - pivotal to Boeing's struggle to acquire a greater share of the lucrative NASA business now dominated by Elon Musk's SpaceX - has been set for May 17 at the earliest, according to NASA.

(With inputs from agencies.)