The Soviet satellite launched on October 4, 1957, was Sputnik, formally known as Sputnik 1. Its launch made history as the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth and marked the beginning of the Space Age.
The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome using an R-7 rocket. The small, polished sphere carried four whip antennas and radio transmitters that broadcast a distinctive series of beeps. Those signals could be detected around the world, turning an otherwise distant technological achievement into a vivid public event.
Sputnik 1 orbited Earth roughly every 96 minutes and remained in space for about three months before burning up in the atmosphere on January 4, 1958. Its success shocked the United States and intensified the early space race, prompting greater investment in science, engineering and satellite technology. A common mix-up is to call it simply “Sputnik” without the number; that is the standard short form, while Sputnik 1 is the precise mission name.