This mission will utilise SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-15 rideshare programme, with the satellite being constructed by a consortium of European companies, including C3S and ISISPACE.

Marking Blue Skies Space’s inaugural satellite venture, Mauve is outfitted with a 13 cm telescope designed to observe hundreds of stars in the ultraviolet and visible wavelengths. The resulting data aims to deepen the understanding of stellar magnetic activity, powerful flares, and their effects on the habitability of nearby exoplanets.

Prof Giovanna Tinetti, Chief Scientist and Co-founder of Blue Skies Space, commented: “The launch of Mauve will help accelerate space science by unlocking greater access to more time-domain, Ultraviolet data complementing the larger facilities such as the Hubble Space Telescope.”

Academics sit at the heart of Blue Skies Space’s science programmes, with researchers who sign up before launch being able to lead and shape the global research collaboration, directing where in space the Mauve satellite looks and how long it looks for during its three-year mission. Early participants already include researchers from Boston University, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Rice University, Vanderbilt University, and Western University.

Dr Marcell Tessenyi, CEO and Co-founder of Blue Skies Space, said: “We are delighted to confirm the launch date for Mauve. It is a crucial step in our mission to accelerate the supply of space science data and making it accessible to any researcher, anywhere in the world.

“Mauve's rapid development timeline – less than three years from concept to launch – represents a new paradigm in the swift delivery of science satellites and their essential datasets.”