Reuters Science News Summary

SpaceX plans to launch its next Starship flight test as soon as this month, aiming to land the rocket's upper stage for the first time and deploy upgraded Starlink satellites.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

SpaceX plans next Starship launch as soon as this month, catching it on land

SpaceX as ​soon as this month aims to launch its next Starship flight test, sending its first upgraded ​Starlink satellites into orbit and then returning the massive rocket system's upper stage ‌to ​land for the first time, CEO Elon Musk said on the company's first earnings call Tuesday. The goals for Starship's 14th test flight represent a major leap in the reusable rocket's development from its last test flight in July, when Starship's upper stage appeared to demonstrate improved landing abilities over the Indian Ocean.

Mountain flower from ‌China joins the world's carnivorous plant club

For most insects, a flowering alpine plant might seem an unlikely predator. But researchers have discovered that a delicate wildflower that grows in rocky mountain crevices in southwestern China lures prey onto sticky hairs, digests their bodies and absorbs the nutrients left behind. It is the first confirmed carnivorous plant in its botanical grouping. Its scientific name is Saxifraga candelabrum, and it is a member of a diverse botanical order — a taxonomic ‌category — called Saxifragales that spans more than 2,000 species.

SpaceX plans next Starship launch as soon as this month, catching it on land

SpaceX as soon as this month aims to launch its next Starship flight test, ‌sending its first upgraded Starlink satellites into orbit and then returning the massive rocket system's upper stage to land for the first time, CEO Elon Musk said on the company's first earnings call Tuesday. The goals for Starship's 14th test flight represent a major leap in the reusable rocket's development from its last test flight in July, when Starship's upper stage appeared to demonstrate improved landing abilities over the Indian Ocean.

Piece of SpaceX rocket will crash into the moon Wednesday

A SpaceX rocket piece floating in space since last year is on ⁠track to ​smash into the moon at high speed early Wednesday morning. The ⁠school-bus-size object is the second stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that had launched a lunar lander from Firefly Aerospace toward the moon in January 2025.

Webb telescope finds signs of ancient disaster for Neptune's moons

New observations of some of Neptune's moons and rings ⁠are providing evidence of a catastrophe that occurred billions of years ago around the solar system's outermost planet in which a Pluto-sized interloper caused a celestial demolition derby. Researchers used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to examine the composition of three of ​Neptune's small inner moons — Proteus, Larissa and Galatea — and its inner dusty rings, and detected clay minerals that one might expect to find deep inside certain worlds in the outer reaches of the ⁠solar system. These magnesium-rich minerals are known to exist on the dwarf planet Ceres, which orbits in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and in some meteorites.

SpaceX's satellite ambitions squeeze out rivals reliant on its rockets

SpaceX is increasingly reserving space on its rockets to launch its ⁠own ​Starlink satellites, crowding out rival space companies that have long depended on Elon Musk's company to get their payloads into orbit. Starlink's share of SpaceX missions has grown year after year, rising from 54% of the Falcon 9 rocket's manifest in 2020 to about 79% so far in 2026, according to a Reuters analysis of launch data compiled by astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell.

Options market braces for $225 billion swing in SpaceX's value as earnings loom

Traders in ⁠the options market are braced for a swing of roughly $225 billion in the value of SpaceX shares following its first-ever earnings report on Tuesday, underscoring market anxiety over how the financials will look for Elon ⁠Musk's rocket and satellite company. Options are pricing a roughly 15% move ⁠in SpaceX shares in either direction, but with a bearish tilt, according to data from options analytics service ORATS.

Bezos Earth Fund, Re:wild launch $200 million drive to save species from extinction

The Bezos Earth Fund, established by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Re:wild, co-founded by actor Leonardo DiCaprio, on Tuesday pledged an initial $200 million to ‌support the recovery of critically endangered species. ‌The Phoenix Species Project aims to help preserve 100 species across 30 countries through long-term funding and locally led ​conservation efforts involving Indigenous Peoples, local communities, scientists and governments.