Sputnik 2 carried the first living creature into orbit around Earth: the Soviet dog Laika.
Launched on 3 November 1957, Sputnik 2 followed Sputnik 1 by less than a month. Its mission demonstrated that a living passenger could survive launch and the early stages of spaceflight. The spacecraft carried life-support equipment, sensors, and a television camera, although it was not designed for a safe return to Earth.
Laika survived the launch and remained alive for several hours, but the spacecraft’s thermal-control failure caused her death. For decades, Soviet reports claimed she survived much longer; later disclosures established the actual cause and timing. Sputnik 2 itself remained in orbit until it reentered the atmosphere on 14 April 1958.
Sputnik 2 is sometimes confused with Vostok 1, which carried Yuri Gagarin and the first human into space in 1961. It also differed from later biological missions that carried animals and were designed to return them safely.