Science

MATS

Swedish Atmospheric Science Satellite (Noctilucent Clouds) · Swedish National Space Agency

MATS launched November 4, 2022 on a Rocket Lab Electron from Mahia, New Zealand, to study something almost nobody has photographed from space: the electric-blue noctilucent clouds that form 50 miles up, glowing after sunset once everything below has gone dark. It images those clouds alongside the atmospheric gravity waves rippling through that layer — data that is helping explain why the clouds are appearing more often and at lower latitudes than they used to, a possible signature of climate change in a part of the atmosphere almost nothing else watches. The mission went dark for over a year (April 2025 to June 2026) due to a communications-license clerical error, unrelated to the spacecraft itself, and resumed normal operations in June 2026.