France's first satellite launch vehicle, developed independently of any alliance and used to launch Asterix in November 1965, making France the third nation, after the Soviet Union and the United States, to orbit a satellite with its own rocket and the only one to do so without either superpower's ICBM heritage behind it.
Facts
Vehicle ClassLight-lift expendable launch vehicle 3 Manufacturer First Flight DateDate of its first successful flight, carrying the Asterix satellite. StatusRetired in 1975; France folded its launch vehicle program into the multinational Ariane effort thereafter. 2 Classification
Vehicle ClassExpendable Launch Vehicle 1 Status
Status (category) Connections
Has Vehicle Class
Operated By
Source European Space Agency: History
In the Other Atlases
Manufactured By
Also in Business Atlas: the manufacturer of this subject.
Sources
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia Foundation
2. European Space Agency: History
European Space Agencyhttps://www.esa.int/About_Us/50_years_of_ESA/The_origins_of_Ariane
France had become the world's third space power with the launch of its Diamant A in 1965.
- Operated By: CNES
3. Encyclopedia Astronautica
http://astronautix.com/d/diamant.htmlQuote, http://astronautix.com/d/diamant.html
In December 1961 France decided to demonstrate an indigenous satellite-launch capability, using stages in development for its ballistic missile program.
Diamant (Wikipedia)
Diamant, Wikipedia - lead section, vehicle kind (expendable)Quote, Diamant, Wikipedia - lead section, vehicle kind (expendable)
The Diamant rocket (French for 'diamond') was the first exclusively French expendable launch system and at the same time the first satellite launcher not built by either the United States or USSR.
Gunter's Space Page: Diamant
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