The Nayif-1 Amateur Radio satellite is beaming a message from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai — the first to be transmitted by the new satellite. AMSAT-NA has designated Nayif-1 as Emirates OSCAR 88 (EO-88). The message in Arabic says, “The renaissance of peoples, nations and civilizations starts with education; and the future of nations starts at their schools.”

Launched on February 15, the Nayif-1 satellite includes a full FUNcube communication package. It carries a U/V linear Amateur Radio transponder for SSB and CW and a telemetry transmitter. Nayif-1 was a joint project of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and American University of Sharjah (AUS). The United Arab Emirate’s first nanosatellite, Nayif-1 was developed by Emirati engineering students from AUS under the supervision of a team of engineers and specialists from MBRSC.

Telemetry is on 145.940 MHz, 1.2 kb BPSK (FUNcube standard). The SSB/CW transponder uplink passband is 435.045-435.015 MHz, and the downlink passband is 145.960-145.990 MHz.