[1]: 26–28  FR-1 was the first step of an ambitious French plan to launch six FR-series satellites, each meant to study a different aspect of the Earth's atmosphere.

[1]: 28  FR-3 was to be a "scaled-up" version of FR-2, with FR-4 to carry instruments measuring hydrogen distribution in the upper atmosphere, FR-5 to study "magnetic impulses" and serve as a platform for future research, and FR-6 to be a solar-stabilized spacecraft with final payload to be determined based on experimental results from its antecedents.

[3] Equipped with accelerometers measuring vertical and horizontal movement and angular velocity, a radio beacon, radar transponder, thermometer, and telemetry transmitters, the satellite was designed to report its position back to Earth.

[4][3] The names Zébulon and Zebby, after another cartoon character from the French children's television program Le Manège enchanté, were also considered.

[3][2] France carried out two suborbital Astérix prototype flights on 31 May and 3 June 1965 using Rubis rockets from the CIEES launch complex Bacchus at Hammaguir, Algeria.

[2] The payload fairing ejected from the rocket ten minutes after launch, during which the satellite's telemetry equipment was damaged.