The Vesta sounding rocket, conceived in 1962 by the Laboratoire de Recherches Balistiques et Aérodynamiques (LRBA), a specialized French Army research facility focused on liquid-propelled rocket development.

It was the outcome of an initiative by CNES with the purpose of enabling transportation of more substantial experiments to greater altitudes than the Véronique sounding rocket, also created by the LRBA and in active service at the time.

[3][4] Weighing 5.1 tons excluding its payload, Vesta had the capability to send a 500 kg to an altitude of 400 km.

[1][2][3][5] The first two launches primarily served as validation tests for the rocket's operation,[1] whereas the subsequent three carried out scientific experiments.

Martine became the first monkey to survive more than a couple of hours after flying above the international definition of the edge of space.