On Sept. 28, 1962, Canada launched its first satellite, Alouette 1. [‘On This Day in Space’ Video Series on Space.com](https://www.space.com/39251-on-this-day-in-space.html)

This made Canada the third country to build and launch its own satellite after the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Alouette 1 was designed to study Earth's ionosphere, which is a region in the upper atmosphere that is ionized by solar and cosmic radiation. The mission lasted 10 years before the satellite was decommissioned, but the derelict satellite is still orbiting the Earth.