About this episode

This episode discusses the launch and significance of Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite.

Sputnik 1 ( / ˈ s p ʌ t n ɪ k , ˈ s p ʊ t n ɪ k / , Russian : Спутник-1 , Satellite 1 ), often referred to as simply Sputnik , was the first artificial Earth satellite . It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program . It sent a radio signal back to Earth for three weeks before its three silver-zinc batteries became depleted. Aerodynamic drag caused it to fall back into the atmosphere on 4 January 1958.

Topics covered

• Sputnik
• satellite
• Soviet Union
• space exploration

Keywords

• artificial satellite
• low Earth orbit
• space race

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