Japan launched its first satellite, Ohsumi, into orbit on February 11, 1970, making it the fourth nation after the USSR, USA and France to release an artificial satellite. It sent radio signals long enough to confirm a revolution of Earth but the signal level gradually fell. During its 6th orbit, the signal was very faint and during the 7th orbit, the signal could not be detected any longer.
However, Ohsumi continued to orbit until August 2, 2003 when it was destroyed when it re-entered the atmosphere over North Africa.
Two months later, China became the fifth space power when it launched Mao 1 into space.
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