When thinking about the animal that flew into space, people often think of Laika – the famous dog that flew into space. Few people will mention Félicette – a “cadet” cat who also performed the same task but was forgotten.

In October 1963, a small black and white cat named Félicette traveled to a place no other cat had ever gone before – beyond Earth. But why is Félicette overlooked while Laika is so beloved? Probably because her rocket looks like a “firework” compared to Laika’s huge, powerful rocket. Or maybe it’s because she just flew to the edge of space, on the same kind of flight with orbits that today’s billionaires only need money to fly to. Félicette’s story is both brilliant and sad because it was never given the recognition it deserves.

Why was Félicette chosen for space flight?

Félicette’s story begins in 1961. After a series of successful flights by superpowers to send animals into space, France decided to make a project of its own, using cats instead of dogs or monkeys, in the hope of collecting data about the vast universe without using actual astronauts.

The 14 female cats were later acquired by the space scientists of the French CERMA center. To prevent scientists from getting attached to them, the cats were numbered instead of names. They are fitted with electrodes to record brain activity. The cats then undergo rigorous and arduous “astronaut training”. To test their response to captivity, cats were placed in small containers for long periods of time. They are also orbited in a centrifuge, simulating the G-forces of a spacecraft’s take-off and landing.

In the end, six cats were selected to move on to the next stage, including one cat then known only as C341.

C341 would not have been chosen, had the cat originally intended for space flight not run away before the mission.

The historic day when Félicette flew beyond Earth

Laika the dog flew into orbit atop a tall, massive Sputnik rocket, very similar to the Vostok booster that would carry Yuri Gagarin. The C341’s slender Veronique AGI booster is much simpler, more like a rocket in a child’s picture. It doesn’t even use a conventional launch tower. Instead, its weight is supported by 4 long bases, like the legs of a Christmas tree stand.

On October 18, 1963, at 8 a.m. local time, the Veronique rocket was launched from the French Special Vehicle Test Center in the middle of the Sahara in Algeria, carrying the little cat.

Encased inside its “capsule”, the tiny C341 had to experience 9.5 g of pressure, almost double the g force that the Apollo astronauts endured when they were launched to the Moon, at twice the speed. 5-6 times the speed of sound. After reaching an altitude of 157km, C341 is only really in space for about 5 minutes. Inside her capsule, the cat can’t see Earth.

As the rocket begins to descend, the capsule separates from the turbocharger. C341 experiences “only” 7 g of pressure as the cat falls, until the capsule’s parachute opens. 13 minutes after takeoff, the cone capsule landed, leaving C341 hanging upside down, until a helicopter arrived and took the cat away.

When C341 returned safely to Earth, it was time for France to let the world know about its flight. So finally the world’s first cat in space has a name: Félicette.

The ending is forgotten

Sadly, like Laika, Félicette’s story doesn’t have a happy ending.

Two months after landing, the brave cat had to die so scientists could conduct an autopsy. From the outset, their aim was to study how Félicette’s body was affected after the flight.

They then concluded that they had learned nothing useful from studying Félicette’s body. After that, there were no more cats in space, and France never sent its astronauts into space.

Although she sacrificed herself for science, since then, the cat Félicette has not been mentioned by anyone. It is not honored, not printed on stamps, not praised by any media as a “hero cat” like other animals with the same mission to fly into space. Félicette was forgotten mainly because the French scientists did not succeed as expected with his project.

Many years later, Félicette was “digged” by astronomical fans. In 2019, an adorable statue of the cat was unveiled at the International Space University Campus in Strasbourg.