British science start-up Blue Skies Space launches first star observation satellite

British startup Blue Skies Space has confirmed the October 2025 launch date for its Mauve stargazing satellite. The satellite will be launched on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter 15 rideshare program and will be the company’s first satellite in orbit. The 25kg Mauve satellite is being built by a consortium of European companies including C3S and ISISPACE and is equipped with a 13cm Cassegrain telescope that will observe hundreds of stars in the ultraviolet and visible wavelength ranges.

Mauve will operate in low Earth orbit and from there measure the magnetic activity of nearby stars and help scientists understand the effects of strong bursts of star formation on exoplanets. The data collected will lead to a better understanding of the effects of bursts on the habitability of neighboring exoplanets. The ultraviolet time-domain data collected will complement data from larger facilities such as the Hubble Space Telescope.

Until now, space data has been made available to researchers by government agencies (such as NASA, ESA, etc.). However, there is enormous demand for these satellites and they are often heavily oversubscribed. For example, demand for the James Webb telescope was seven times greater than supply.

Blues Skies Space aims to improve access to space research data by making the data collected by its satellites available to any researcher in the world. The company aims to make space research data available to the global scientific community directly and in a shorter timeframe through a low-cost annual membership.

Science is at the heart of Blue Skies Space’s science programs. Researchers who sign up before launch will be able to shape the global research collaboration and determine where in space the Mauve satellite looks and how long it searches during its three-year mission. Early participants include researchers from Boston University, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Rice University, Vanderbilt University and Western University.