Which country was 3rd into space?

You know the USSR and USA were #1 and #2

With the launch of the 42 kg Asterix-1 satellite, France officially became the third country to launch its own satellite, and the sixth to have a satellite in orbit.

Which nation was third into orbit? After World War II ended, the balance of power was forever shifted. With the US and Russia both eager to gain more technical capabilities, they quickly scooped up prior German scientists. Both countries started an aggressive program to develop rockets and the ability to launch into space, although the USSR beat the USA with Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth-orbiting satellite, The Soviet Union’s satellite, launched into a low earth elliptical orbit and remained in orbit for three weeks before failing.

After running out of power it silently orbited about two months before falling back into the atmosphere. The US trailed behind, successfully launching Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958 at 22:48 Eastern Time.

On November 26, 1965, With the Astérix satellite, France became the sixth country to have an artificial satellite in orbit after the USSR, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Italy. To be fair to France, the US assisted the UK, Canada and Italy’s satellite launches. Thus, what makes this event important, France became the third…