26. November 1965. Frankreich bringt seinen ersten Satelliten, Astérix, mit seiner eigenen Diamant-A-Rakete erfolgreich in die Umlaufbahn. Damit war Frankreich das dritte Land, das unabhängig einen Satelliten startete, und das erste, das dies mit einer Rakete tat, die nicht von den Vereinigten Staaten oder der Sowjetunion gebaut wurde.

France’s first satellite, *Astérix*, and the Diamant A rocket that lofted it into orbit on 26 November 1965. The launch took place at Hammaguir in the Algerian desert, and it made France not only the sixth nation with a satellite in space, but only the third country ever – after the USSR and the US – to put one up using its *own* launcher. Astérix was tiny, about the size of a large cooking pot, and its main job was simply to prove that France could build and fire its own orbital-class rocket. The satellite’s transmitters failed almost immediately, but it didn’t matter: American radar confirmed it was in orbit, and it’s still circling Earth today.