Cospar 3 - Banner

UAE’s Nayif-1 transmits its first message from space in Arabic

The AUS and MBRSC Nayif-1 nanosatellite. Photo courtesy of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.

The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, announced that Nayif-1 has transmitted its first message in Arabic from space – a quote by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai:

‘‘The renaissance of peoples, nations and civilizations starts with education; and the future of nations starts at their schools’’

Ground stations all over the world that operate on amateur radio bands were able to receive the message. The message was transmitted from Nayif-1’s ground station, located at the American University of Sharjah (AUS), under the supervision of a team of engineers from MBRSC and university professors, as well as MBRSC’s knowledge transfer partner, Innovative Solutions in Space NL.

Nayif-1 is an educational project launched by MBRSC in cooperation with AUS with the goal of providing hands-on experience to Emirati engineering students on designing, building, testing and operating nanosatellites. The nanosatellite Nayif-1 was launched successfully to Space on February 15, 2017, on board a PSLV-C37 rocket, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India. Nayif-1’s main mission objective is to send and receive messages on Amateur Radio frequencies and stands out as the first 1U nanosatellite that is programmed to transfer text messages in the Arabic language.

Original published at: https://spacewatch.global/2017/02/uaes-nayif-1-transmits-first-message-space-arabic/

Check Also

#SpaceWatchGL Opinion: 10 iconic marketing campaigns in Space

Marketing in outer space seems like an innovative idea, but it has 60+ years of history. Dr. Wernher von Braun, former Marshall Space Flight Center Director, pointed out on July 22, 1969: "Because without public relations we would have been unable to do it". Today, accelerated access to space provides unprecedented opportunities for #advertising stunts and viral marketing. Some campaigns raise ethical, environmental, and regulatory concerns, while others champion sustainability.