World’s first commercial space science satellite launched successfully

The first private space science satellite set to study the impact of flares from stars has been launched into space and is now in orbit, the company behind it has said.

Blue Skies Space, a space science data company headquartered in London, said its satellite was launched on a Space X Falcon 9 in California at 6.45pm on Friday.

The company said the satellite, which is the size of a microwave and is called Mauve, is equipped with a microscope and will observe stellar flares and exoplanets.

Blue Skies Space will share the data Mauve collects to research institutions which are part of its subscription service, including Boston and Columbia universities.

“Mauve will open a new window on stellar activity that has previously been largely hidden from view,” said Professor Giovanna Tinetti, chief scientist at Blue Skies Space.

“By observing stars in ultraviolet light, wavelengths that can’t be studied from Earth, we’ll gain a much deeper understanding of how stars behave and how their flares may impact the environment of orbiting exoplanets.

“Traditional ground-based telescopes just can’t capture this information, so a satellite like Mauve is crucial for furthering our knowledge.”

Dr Marcell Tessenyi, chief executive of Blue Skies Space, added: “Our vision is to make space science data as accessible as possible.”