this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2026
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Science Memes

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First Satellites (mander.xyz)
submitted 1 day ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (2 children)

Canada was the 4th country with a satellite, and the 3rd country to fully construct its own satellite. It called that satellite Alouette 1, followed by Alouette 2, then ISIS 1 and 2 (International Satellites for Ionospheric Studies, not the other one).

The list of launches is pretty funny.

  • Sputnik 1 (success); USSR
  • Sputnik 2 (success); USSR

Then an absolutely frantic series of US attempts

  • Vanguard 1A (failure); USA
  • Explorer 1 (success); USA
  • Vanguard 1B (failure); USA
  • Explorer 2 (failure); USA
  • Vanguard 1C (success); USA
  • Explorer 3 (success); USA
  • Vanguard 2A (failure); USA

Then another Sputnik

  • Sputnik 3 (success); USSR

Then more frantic attempts by the USA

  • Vanguard 2B (failure); USA
  • Vanguard 2C (failure); USA
  • Explorer 4 (success); USA
  • Pioneer 0 (failure); USA
  • ~~Pioneer~~ Explorer 5 (failure); USA
  • Vanguard 2D (failure); USA
  • Pioneer 1 (partial success); USA
  • Beacon 1 (failure); USA
  • Pioneer 2 (failure); USA

Then 1959 started with Luna 1, a partially successful launch from the USSR.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 5 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Mild confusing, Pioneer 5 launched before Pioneer 1? Whose bright idea was that?

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 3 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Oops, I messed up. That should have been Explorer 5.

[–] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago

no no your list is right it's reality that's wrong

[–] sukhmel@programming.dev 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

I read in another place that Japan was the fourth to launch a satellite in February of 1970, it looks like that other article means ‘launched using their own rocktet’, and Canada launched 8 years earlier than Japan using NASA rocket

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 3 points 8 hours ago

Everybody wants to make their own achievement sound better.

  • The UK was the third country with a satellite, but didn't fully build their own satellite.
  • Canada was the fourth, but third to fully build their own satellite, but they didn't use their own rocket.
  • Italy was the fifth and also launched a satellite they built, but used an American rocket.
  • France was the sixth country with a satellite, but the first to launch outside the US or USSR using their own rocket.
  • Australia was the seventh country with a satellite, but the third to launch a satellite in its own territory; France launched from Algeria in 1965 which had been independent since 1962. But, Australia used an American rocket, not its own design.
  • West Germany was the eighth country with a satellite, but it was launched from a US rocket on a US base.
  • Japan was the ninth country with a satellite, but it used its own rocket from its own territory. So, 9th with a satellite, 5th to launch outside the US and USSR, 4th to launch from its own territory, and 4th to launch with its own rocket.