Lithuanian President Sends Greetings via Amateur Radio Satellite

Lithuanian President Dalia
Grybauskaite (Courtesy
Government of Lithuania)

The President of Lithuania used amateur radio in March to transmit a message to that country's first satellite - LituanicaSAT-1 - which includes an amateur radio voice transponder and was deployed from the International Space Station at that end of February. 

The ARRL Letter reported that President Dalia Grybauskaite used a handheld radio and the call sign LY5N to transmit her message, "Greetings to all Lithuanians around the world," up to the satellite, which stored it on a memory chip and retransmitted it on March 22.
 
According to the Letter, Grybauskaite may be the first head of state to send a message via an amateur radio satellite.