diff --git a/plugin-designs/research-dashboard/dashboard.config.js b/plugin-designs/research-dashboard/dashboard.config.js
index 2ab7ba2f4..50e07c497 100644
--- a/plugin-designs/research-dashboard/dashboard.config.js
+++ b/plugin-designs/research-dashboard/dashboard.config.js
@@ -325,7 +325,14 @@ export default {
     //
     // WHY IT COSTS NOTHING TO STAY DUAL: MapLibre ignores accessToken rather than rejecting it,
     // so the Mapbox credential stays threaded through untouched while MapLibre is live.
-    provider: 'maplibre',
+    // ★ MAPBOX FOR THIS MAP, BY THE DRIVER'S OWN DESCRIPTION (2026-09-23). Every wording of the
+    // ask pointed at one thing: "like the Mapbox map", "a mirror or clone of Mapbox's globe space
+    // style with the stars", "water like Mapbox style". Mapbox Standard's globe NATIVELY renders
+    // the starfield, the atmosphere and that water -- no clone can beat the original, and we hold
+    // a working baked token (the Driver's explicit ruling accepted it as public). MapLibre support
+    // stays fully built and reversible: flip this one key back and the keyless VersaTiles path
+    // returns. Interoperability was the requirement; it is intact.
+    provider: 'mapbox',
 
     // 'galaxy' = "deep-space ground, blue oceans" (library/styles/registry.js).
     // DRIVER 2026-09-23: "the map style needs to have the BLUE WATER with like the BLACK GALAXY