Editing Diamant (section)

== Development ==
===Background===
During the late 1940s and 1950s, substantial interest arose amongst the international powers of the era in the development of [[rocket]]ry and [[missile]] technology, in particular the prospects for [[ballistic missile]]s capable of travelling great distances. Both of the emergent [[superpower]]s of the time, the United States and the [[Soviet Union|Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] (USSR) chose to invest heavily within this new field, observing its political and military importance; it was not long before a highly competitive atmosphere emerged where neither entity wished to fall behind the other in missile technology, which directly led to the so-called '[[space race]]'.<ref name = "ble gei hub 50 51">Bleeker, Geiss and Huber 2012, pp. 50-51.</ref> In addition, other nations also sought to make headway with this technology, often seeking to exploit and build upon knowledge which had been acquired from [[Nazi Germany]]'s [[V-2 rocket|V2]] programme. In western Europe, both the United Kingdom and France began making significant early steps in this field.<ref name = "ble gei hub 50 51"/><ref name = "turn 8"/>

While Britain forged ahead with programmes such as the [[Black Knight (rocket)|Black Knight]] ballistic missile demonstrator and the military-orientated [[Blue Steel (missile)|Blue Steel]] missile programme, France also made progress on its own efforts.<ref name = "ble gei hub 51">Bleeker, Geiss and Huber 2012, p. 51.</ref> During 1949, the French government established the [[:fr:Laboratoire de recherches balistiques et aérodynamiques|Laboratoire de Recherches Balistiques et Aérodynamiques]] at [[Vernon, Eure|Vernon]], outside [[Paris]], for the purpose of pursuing its own military-focused ballistic missiles programmes. The agency initially conducted relatively straightforward and cost-conscious programmes, such as the development of the V2-based [[Véronique (rocket)|Veronique]] liquid-fuelled rocket in cooperation with a number of German scientists, which first flew during 1954.<ref name = "ble gei hub 51 52">Bleeker, Geiss and Huber 2012, pp. 51-52.</ref> During 1957, having been suitably encouraged by the progress made, the [[Comité d'Action Scientifique de Défense Nationale]] (CASDN) decided to finance further refinements of the Veronique rocket.<ref name = "ble gei hub 52">Bleeker, Geiss and Huber 2012, p. 52.</ref>

During 1958, French wartime military leader [[Charles de Gaulle]] became [[President of France]], establishing the [[French Fifth Republic|Fifth Republic]].<ref name = "ble gei hub 52"/> De Gaulle, who was openly keen to develop a capable and fully independent French nuclear deterrent, determined that French-built missiles could comprise a potent element of the French military's fledgling nuclear arsenal, known as the [[Force de dissuasion|Force de frappe]]; further impetus in favour of missile development was generated by the [[Sputnik crisis]], a fear that other powers were falling behind the Soviet Union's progress in missile development, which had been provoked by the USSR's success with [[Sputnik 1]], the first man-made [[satellite]] to be successfully orbited.<ref name = "ble gei hub 52"/> A greatly expanded and renewed framework for missile-related development was promptly issued alongside generous government support for scientific research; specifically, the new efforts covered technologies such as [[intermediate-range ballistic missile]]s (IRBMs), [[submarine-launched ballistic missile]], and [[reconnaissance satellite]]s.<ref name = "ble gei hub 52"/>

===Emergence and success===
During 1959, the French government established the [[CNES|Comité de Recherches Spatiales]] (CRS), which would later be renamed as the [[CNES|Centre National d'Études Spatiales]] (CNES).<ref name = "ble gei hub 52"/> The newly formed CRS, initially chaired by the French physicist [[Pierre Victor Auger|Pierre Auger]], was tasked with the coordination of all French research efforts in the field of space. From an early stage, the organisation's primary goal was to pursue the development of an indigenous [[expendable launch system]] with which payloads, such as satellites, could be launched into [[orbit]].<ref name = "ble gei hub 52"/> The indigenous launcher, which was promptly named ''Diamant'', drew heavily from the military ballistic missile programmes which had preceded it; as such, much of the rocket's design was based upon these early missiles.<ref name = "ble gei hub 52"/>

On 26 November 1965, the first Diamant rocket was fired from its launch site, the [[CIEES]] testing range, at [[Hammaguir]], [[Béchar Province]], [[Algeria]].<ref name = "ble gei hub 52 1673">Bleeker, Geiss and Huber 2012, pp. 52, 1673.</ref> This [[maiden flight]] was deemed to be a success, achieving sufficient altitude and launching French's first satellite, a 42&nbsp;kg test vehicle known as [[Astérix (satellite)|Astérix]], into orbit; this feat has been viewed as cementing France as the third space power in the world, as well as affirming its independence and strategic capabilities. During 1966 and 1967, Diamant was used to launch three French-built scientific satellites.<ref name = "ble gei hub 52"/> On 9 April 1968, the [[Guiana Space Centre]], France's new national launching complex at [[Kourou]], [[French Guiana]], was officially declared to be operational; Diamant launches were subsequently shifted to this facility, along with various other missiles in use by France and, later on, other European nations as well.<ref name = "ble gei hub 52 105">Bleeker, Geiss and Huber 2012, pp. 52, 105.</ref>

On 10 March 1970, the first ''Diamant B'' rocket, an improved model of the launcher, was fired, carrying a pair of scientific satellites, named ''DIAL/MIKA'' and ''DIAL/WIKA'', into orbit.<ref name = "ble gei hub 52"/> Only one of the two satellites, which had been produced as a collaborative effort between France and Germany to study the [[Van Allen radiation belt]] around the Earth, survived the launch process.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1970-017B| title=DIAL/MIKA - NSSDC ID: 1970-017B|publisher=NASA NSSDC}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1970-017A|title=DIAL/WIKA - NSSDC ID: 1970-017A| publisher=NASA NSSDC}}</ref> Overall, the Diamant rocket came to be recognised as a successful and reliable launch vehicle, competitive amongst even the best of its international competitors throughout the world during its time.<ref name = "ble gei hub 93">Bleeker, Geiss and Huber 2012, p. 93.</ref>

===Successor and discontinuation===
While Diamant had proven to be a viable and reliable launcher, the sheer size of the American and Soviet space programmes far exceeded what would be realistically achievable not only by France but by any of the independent nations of western Europe.<ref name = "turn 8"/> As this realisation became prevalent, it was also recognised that cooperative efforts between nations and a new generation of international programmes would enable these nations to play a much greater and significant role in space exploration. Early collaborative programmes, such as the [[European Launcher Development Organisation]] (ELDO) and [[European Space Research Organisation]] (ESRO), bore mixed results but showed the promise of such endeavours, thus a greater emphasis was placed upon international efforts on the topic of space.<ref name = "turn 8">Turner 2008, p. 8.</ref>

As a consequence of Britain's withdrawal from participation in the ELDO, it was decided to replace the British-built [[Blue Streak (missile)|Blue Streak]], which comprised the first stage of the organisation's multinational launcher, known as [[Europa (rocket)|Europa]], with the French-built Diamant taking its place.<ref name=europa>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Mark |last=Wade |url=http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/europa.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020305192355/http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/europa.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 5, 2002 |title=Europa |encyclopedia= Encyclopedia Astronautica}}</ref> All work on the Europa programme was terminated only a few years later due to the high failure rate encountered. Meanwhile, Britain decided to focus its efforts on the indigenous [[Black Arrow]] launcher instead.

During 1974, the [[European Space Agency]] (ESA) was founded for this purpose; the ESA effectively enabled the competing and overlapping national space programmes to be succeeded by a single organised multinational framework with work shared between the member states instead.<ref name = "turn 8"/> Specifically, in 1976, work commenced on the new collaborative [[Ariane 1]] launcher, the first version of what would become the highly successful [[Ariane (rocket family)|Ariane family]]. The existence of the Ariane programme, a rival launcher to the earlier Diamant rocket, effectively replaced the demand for and the role of France's indigenous launcher, rendering it obsolete and redundant in comparison. France ultimately decided to discontinue further launches using Diamant in favour of the newer Ariane platform.<ref name = "turn 8"/>