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Sheikh Mohammed's quotes are out of this world, quite literally

Sharjah - Nayif-1 transmitted its first message in Arabic from space - and it was none other than a quote by the much-loved Dubai Ruler.

Since taking office more than a decade ago, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has used his insightful words to inspire people the world over. But now these words have journeyed one step further in a bid to inspire a whole universe.
On Wednesday, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre announced that its nanosatellite Nayif-1 transmitted its first message in Arabic from space - and it was none other than a quote by the much-loved Dubai Ruler.
Ground stations that operate on amateur radio bands were able to receive the message that said: ''The renaissance of peoples, nations and civilisations starts with education; and the future of nations starts at their schools''.
Transmitted from the Nayif-1's ground station located at the American University of Sharjah (AUS), the message went out under the supervision of a team of engineers from the MBRSC, its transfer partner Innovative Solutions in Space NL, as well as university professors.
Nayif-1 is an educational project launched by MBRSC in cooperation with AUS, hence the carefully chosen quote which highlights the importance of education in every child's life.
The goal of the project is to provide a hands-on experience to Emirati engineering students on nanosatellites. Nayif-1 was first launched successfully into Space on February 15 this year from 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.
reporters@khaleejtimes.