Nayif-1 team members after completion of the assembly and integration of the CubeSat

AMSAT-UK and AMSAT-NL are delighted to now be able to confirm that the Nayif-1 1U CubeSat, which has a full FUNcube payload, is now scheduled for launch on an Indian PSLV launch vehicle at 03:58 UT on February 15, 2017. The flight, PSLV-C37, will be carry a total of 104 satellites into orbit.

UPDATE Feb 14: Nayif-1 TLEs for tracking are at http://download.funcube.org.uk/nayif_tle.txt
Join in the Nayif-1 launch day chat on the FUNcube IRC channel, your reception reports are most welcome, see http://irc.lc/freenode/funcube (If you have a Callsign put it in the nickname field)

The 145.940 MHz 1k2 BPSK telemetry beacon, running 50mW output, should activate  at approximately 04:54 UT on Wednesday, February 15 when the spacecraft is heading north over Mexico and the western parts of the US and Canada.

Nayif-1 was developed by UAE students – Image credit The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre

During the Launch and Early Operation Phase (LEOP) of the mission, the Nayif-1 command team will be headquartered at the American University of Sharjah Ground station in the United Arab Emirates. They will obviously be especially keen to have all possible reports of signal reception during this first orbit!

To encourage everyone to take part, there will be a small prize for the stations that submit the first data to the Nayif-1 Data Warehouse. Please help the team if you can.

Nayif-1 has been developed by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and American University of Sharjah (AUS). The UAE’s first Nanosatellite was developed by Emirati engineering students from AUS under the supervision of a team of engineers and specialists from MBRSC within the framework of a partnership between the two entities, aiming to provide hands-on experience to engineering students on satellite manufacturing.

Hessa Ali and Maitha Al Shizawi verifying the Nayif-1 hardware as well as conducting electrical and functional tests

The spacecraft includes a U/V linear transponder and telemetry transmitter. It employs enhanced oscillator circuitry and includes an active attitude determination and control system.

As with previous missions carrying FUNcube payloads, AMSAT-UK would very much like to receive as many reports from stations around the world, especially during the first few minutes and hours after launch.

There is a mission specific Telemetry Dashboard for this project and this can be downloaded from http://download.funcube.org.uk/Nayif-1_Dashboard_1038_installer.msi  and, in a similar way to the FUNcube-1 Dashboard, this will be capable of uploading the telemetry received to a central Data Warehouse.

Guidance Notes for the installation of the Dashboard, integration with a FUNcube Dongle and the Data Warehouse have been prepared for the Nayif-1 mission. These can be downloaded from https://funcubetest2.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/nayif-1_dashboard_notes_release_1-0b.pdf

A file to test that the Dashboard and Warehouse configuration are working correctly can be downloaded from  http://download.funcube.org.uk/nayif1_testfile.funcubebin

The Data Warehouse is still under final development but can be viewed at http://data.amsat-uk.org/nayif1/

Please note that if you are already a registered user of the FUNcube Dashboard then you do not need to re-register. Your existing details will transfer automatically to the new Dashboard when you run it for the first time.

The operating frequencies for the spacecraft will be:

Telemetry
145.940 MHz using 1k2 BPSK to the FUNcube standard.

SSB/CW Transponder
Uplink on 435.045 – 435.015 MHz
Downlink on 145.960 – 145.990 MHz

Initial operations of the spacecraft will be in a low power “safe” mode where only the telemetry transmitter is activated.

ISRO PSLV-C37 brochure http://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c37-cartosat-2-series-satellite/pslv-c37-brochure

Deputy project manager of Nayif-1 Fatma Lootah