Astérix (satellite)


Astérix, the first French satellite, was launched on November 26, 1965 by a Diamant A rocket from the CIEES launch site at Hammaguir, French Algeria. With Astérix, France became the sixth country to have an artificial satellite in orbit after the USSR, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Italy, and the third to launch a satellite on its own.
The satellite was originally designated A-1, as the French Army's first satellite, but later renamed after the popular French comics character Astérix. Due to the relatively high altitude of its orbit, it is not expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere for several centuries.

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