A London-based company said it will launch its satellite into orbit next year through SpaceX’s rideshare program, with the goal of eventually selling the data it collects.
Blue Skies Space on Thursday revealed it will launch its Mauve science satellite in 2025 as a payload carried by one of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets. It’s the 10-year-old company’s first satellite ready for a launch into orbit, where it will observe hundreds of stars in Ultraviolet and visible wavelengths. That data will allow researchers to study and develop an understanding of their magnetic activity, flares, and the impact on planets that orbit stars.
“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,” Giovanna Tinetti, Blue Skies Space’s chief scientist and co-founder, said in a statement.
Over the course of a three-year mission, Mauve will provide data that most other companies and organizations don’t currently focus on — for a price. Researchers will need to purchase an annual membership to access the information gathered by Mauve, although the company hasn’t yet revealed specific prices.
Although there are plenty of private companies gathering and selling data, they often rely on telescopes firmly planted on the ground or satellites collecting data about Earth. The data Blue Skies Space seeks to sell is usually only delivered by government agencies, CEO and co-founder Marcell Tessenyi told TechCrunch.
Blue Skies Space will gather data about space from space, delivering a unique product to scientists around the world. In April, the company said it has partnered with institutions across 11 countries, including Boston University and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.
In addition to Mauve, Blue Skies Space is developing Twinkle, a second satellite that will be developed by Airbus. The firm aims to also launch Twinkle in 2025 for three-year mission.
Blue Skies Space has raised around $6.5 million since it was founded in 2014, including its April fundraising round of more than $2 million from investors like Japan’s Sparx Group and United Kingdom-based seed fund SFC Capital. It has also received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program.
“Their unique data service will bring exciting new opportunities for space research and be the first commercial offering in a landscape only served by governments today,” Tadashi Kito, head of Sparx’s space investment team, said in a statement in April. “We look forward to seeing Mauve and Twinkle followed by a fleet of dedicated science satellites.”