<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article does not cite any sources . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (September 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article does not cite any sources . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (September 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Astérix, the first French satellite, was launched on November 26, 1965 by a Diamant A rocket from Hammaguir, Algeria . With Astérix, France became the sixth country to have an artificial satellite in orbit after: USSR (Sputnik 1, 1957), the United States (Explorer 1, 1958), the United Kingdom (Ariel 1, 1962), Canada (Alouette 1, 1962) and Italy (San Marco 1, 1964), and the third to launch a satellite on its own (the UK, Canada and Italy's satellites were launched on American rockets). 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 . </P> <Ul> <Li> Weight: 42 kg </Li> <Li> Perigee: 527 km </Li> <Li> Apogee: 1697 km </Li> <Li> Inclination: 34.3 degrees </Li> <Li> Orbital period: 107.5 minutes and 5 seconds </Li> </Ul>

Which was the third country to launch an artificial satellite in 1965 named asterix