26 novembre 1965. La Francia lancia con successo in orbita il suo primo satellite, Astérix, utilizzando il proprio razzo Diamant A. Ciò ha reso la Francia il terzo paese a lanciare autonomamente un satellite e il primo a farlo con un razzo non costruito dagli Stati Uniti o dall’Unione Sovietica.

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.