Mauve Science Programme: Year 1 Goals & Early Results

Mauve is a small satellite designed and operated by Blue Skies Space to study stellar activity and variability, exoplanet hosts, hot stars, and exotic populations in binaries. The satellite features a 13 cm telescope and is designed to obtain spectrophotometric data of bright stars across the 200–700 nm wavelength range at a low resolution.

Mauve launched on 28 November 2025 and obtained first light on 9 February 2026. The data from the satellite will be delivered through a three-year collaborative science programme, providing researchers with thousands of observational hours each year to perform time-domain astronomy at different timescales.

Researchers participating in the science programme define the science goals with flexibility to update the observational plan as and when required. The science themes identified for the first year of operations are available here: https://doi.org/10.1093/rasti/rzag018.

During the commissioning phase, Mauve observed multiple targets to characterise early performance and calibrate the instrument. In this presentation, we will showcase the proposed science themes, initial performance of the satellite, analysis and interpretations of the commissioning observations and how to participate in the programme.

Learn more about Mauve: https://bssl.space/mauve.