The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the world’s first artificial satellite, in 1957.
Sputnik 1 lifted off on 4 October 1957 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard a Soviet R-7 rocket. The polished satellite was a small pressurized sphere equipped with radio transmitters. Its repeated “beep” signals could be detected by radio operators around the world, demonstrating that an artificial object had entered Earth orbit.
The launch began the Space Age and intensified the United States–Soviet rivalry known as the Space Race. Sputnik completed an orbit roughly every 96 minutes and remained in space for about three months before reentering the atmosphere. The satellite itself carried no camera; its scientific value included measurements of the upper atmosphere and the effect of space conditions on radio signals.
The launch site is now in Kazakhstan, but Sputnik 1 was a Soviet spacecraft. Kazakhstan became independent in 1991, and Russia continues to operate Baikonur under a lease agreement.