Reuters Science News Summary

The ​ability to return, recover, and reuse a rocket's engine-packed ‍first stage, or booster, after launch is crucial to reducing costs and making it easier for countries to send satellites into orbit, and ⁠to ‌turn space exploration ⁠into a commercially viable business similar to civil aviation. Russia plans a ‍nuclear power plant on the moon within a decade Russia plans to ​put a nuclear power plant on the moon ⁠in the next decade to supply its lunar space programme and a ⁠joint Russian-Chinese research station, as major powers rush to explore the earth's only natural satellite.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

China's LandSpace hopes to ‌complete rocket recovery in mid-2026

Chinese rocket developer LandSpace plans to successfully recover a reusable booster ⁠in mid-2026, a company executive said in an interview, underscoring the Beijing-based firm's ambition to become China's answer to SpaceX. The ​ability to return, recover, and reuse a rocket's engine-packed ‍first stage, or booster, after launch is crucial to reducing costs and making it easier for countries to send satellites into orbit, and ⁠to ‌turn space exploration ⁠into a commercially viable business similar to civil aviation.

Russia plans a ‍nuclear power plant on the moon within a decade

Russia plans to ​put a nuclear power plant on the moon ⁠in the next decade to supply its lunar space programme and a ⁠joint Russian-Chinese research station, as major powers rush to explore the earth's only natural satellite. Ever since Soviet cosmonaut Yuri ⁠Gagarin became the first human to go into space in 1961, ⁠Russia ‌has prided itself as a leading power in space exploration, but in recent decades it ⁠has fallen behind the United States and, ‍increasingly, China.

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