22 February 2017

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) 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’’

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

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 15th February 2017 on board a PSLV-C37 rocket, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. 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.

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About MBRSC:
MBRSC is a Dubai Government entity which aims to promote scientific innovation and technology advancement in Dubai and the UAE. The Centre works on research projects and studies related to space science, in line with the approach of the United Arab Emirates, in its quest to develop the sector and build national academic skills through it.

Among the most prominent tasks entrusted to the Centre are the design, implementation, and supervision of all phases of launching the “Hope Probe” to explore Mars. The Centre is also responsible for all projects related to satellite technology and applications and specialized projects, and advanced technical projects assigned to stakeholders. Also, the Centre provides space imaging and earth station services and support to other satellite services.

In 2009, MBRSC launched "DubaiSat-1" into space, the first remote sensing satellite. In 2013, the second satellite "DubaiSat-2" was launched, while work is underway to launch the third satellite "KhalifaSat", which is being built purely by Emirati engineering and expertise in the UAE.

For more information, please contact:
Grace Haber 
Consultant - Corporate Communications
Mob: +971-55 462 3472
E-mail: grace.haber@mbrsc.ae

© Press Release 2017