Cerise (French for "cherry") was a French military reconnaissance satellite. Its main purpose was to intercept HF radio signals for French intelligence services. With a mass of 50 kg, it was launched by an Ariane 4 rocket from Kourou in French Guiana at 17:23 UT, 7 July 1995.
The collision tore off a 2.8-2.9 metre (9.2-9.5 foot) portion of Cerise's gravity-gradient stabilization boom, which left the satellite severely damaged and tumbling with a limited attitude control system. Novel magnetic control algorithms were used to re-stabilise the otherwise undamaged microsatellite to regain almost full operational mission capability.
The Naval Space Operations Center detected a minor perturbation in the orbit of the debris of the Ariane rocket.