On 4 July 2024, MESAT 1 was launched on a Firefly Alpha launch vehicle from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, United States. The amateur radio transponder became operational on 20 September 2024. On 2 October 2024, the OSCAR Numbers Coordinator assigned the designation MESAT1-OSCAR-122 or MO-122 to AMSAT-NA.
MESAT 1, developed by the University of Maine, carries three experimental payloads for university research, a transmitter for commercial Globalstar, and a linear transponder provided by AMSAT for use by amateur radio operators worldwide.
The three university experiments are:
ALBEDO: This payload investigates the effects of albedo (the fraction of solar radiation reflected back to space) on local temperatures.
IMAGER: A remote sensing instrument for imaging shallow coastal waters to determine water quality characteristics such as turbidity and phytoplankton concentration.
HAB: A payload for investigating atmospheric influences on harmful algal blooms.
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
