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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

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merc@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ 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.
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