Alouette 1 was a deactivated Canadian satellite that studied the ionosphere, launched in 1962. The purpose of Alouette 1 was to investigate the properties of the top of the ionosphere, and the dependence of those properties on geographical location, season, and time of day.

Alouette 2 was a Canadian research satellite launched at 04:48 UTC on November 29, 1965 by a Thor Agena rocket with Explorer 31 from the Western test range at Vandenberg AFB in California. The Alouette 2 was built up from the identical backup satellite to Alouette 1. It had many more experiments and more sophisticated support systems than the earlier satellite. It lasted for 10 years, being terminated on August 1, 1975.