AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NL have announced that a FUNcubecommunication package has been selected as a major payload for the Nayif-1 CubeSat mission. FUNcube-1 (AO-73) carries an inverting U/V SSB/CW transponder.

The Nayif-1 mission, tentatively set to launch toward the end of 2015, is intended to provide students in the United Arab Emirates with a tool to design and test systems in space. The CubeSat is being developed by the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) in partnership with American University of Sharjah (AUS). It is expected that this payload will provide a large amount of valuable environmental data from space together with a new, enhanced, UHF to VHF linear transponder.

The AMSAT team will work closely with the Emirati students in collaboration with support partner Innovative Solutions In Space BV from the Netherlands to develop the new system.

AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NL announced the news on April 25, during the Dutch “Interessedag Amateursatellieten” (Amateur Satellite Interest Day) event in Apeldoorn. More details, including frequencies and planned operating schedules, will be made available as soon as possible. — Thanks to AMSAT News Service via AMSAT-UK