The "first light" of the first commercial space exploration satellite ushers in a new era in astronomical data

Mauve will study stars in ultraviolet and visible light, enabling a better understanding of their magnetic activity, flares, and their impact on the habitability of exoplanets.

The satellite carries a 13-cm telescope and performs spectrophotometric observations in the 200–700 nm range. Following the launch on November 28, 2025, contact was established with the satellite, and commissioning activities began. All of the satellite’s subsystems and the payload instruments have been activated and are operational. In addition to American, Japanese, Irish, and Italian institutions, researchers from the STARK research group at the HUN-REN Research Center for Astronomy and Earth Sciences are also participating in the processing of Mauve data as part of an international collaboration.

As part of the early commissioning, Mauve was pointed at its first calibration target, the bright star eta Ursae Majoris (eta UMa) in the constellation Ursa Major, located approximately 104 light-years from Earth, and observed for 5 seconds. eta UMa is a hot, blue star that is much hotter than our Sun. eta UMa is a strong ultraviolet source, making it an ideal calibration target for a UV observatory such as Mauve.

With support from the NKFIH Élvonal program, the Hungarian team is investigating the activity of M dwarfs, as well as the effects of associated flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

M dwarfs are the most common stars in the Milky Way, and most known Earth-sized exoplanets orbit such stars. However, frequent eruptions can even lead to the destruction of planetary atmospheres in the long term. The aim of the research is to determine which stars can truly provide a habitable environment for their planets. This aligns closely with one of Mauve’s primary scientific goals: gaining a more precise understanding of stellar activity, which is of fundamental importance for future exoplanet missions—such as ESA’s PLATO and Ariel—as well as for habitability models.

“Planetary habitability is determined not only by their size or orbit, but also by the behavior of their host star. Through Mauve, we can study the ultraviolet activity of stars in unprecedented detail, which is key to understanding how stars shape the atmospheres and evolution of their planets,” said Dr. Krisztián Vida, the Hungarian member of the consortium.