OTD In Space - December 19: France Creates a Space Agency

On Dec. 19, 1961, France's space agency was born!

After more than a decade of experimenting with rockets and missiles under the country's department of defense, President Charles de Gaulle finally decided that France needed an official governmental space research and signed the creation of the Centre National d' Etudes Spatiales, which in English is the National Center for Space Studies. De Gaulle established the agency to coordinate French space activities like rocket launches and astronaut training -- and eventually the launch of the first and only cat to go to space.