4 1957 the former soviet union successfully launched sputnik 1 the first human made object to enter earth orbit.
Launching of the first artificial earth satellite.
Satellite 1 or ps 1 простейший спутник 1 or prosteyshiy sputnik 1 elementary satellite 1 was the first artificial earth satellite.
In the context of spaceflight a satellite is an object that has been intentionally placed into orbit these objects are called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as earth s moon.
Sputnik 1 the first artificial satellite launched was a 83 6 kg 184 pound capsule.
Or 183 9 pounds and took about 98 minutes to orbit earth on its elliptical path.
See photos from the historic mission.
The soviet union launched it into an elliptical low earth orbit on 4 october 1957.
The white house agreed that this might be a good idea and announced plans to launch an earth orbiting satellite to take measurements of the upper atmosphere and the effects of the solar wind.
Sputnik any of a series of three artificial earth satellites the first of whose launch by the soviet union on october 4 1957 inaugurated the space age.
Sputnik 1 ˈ s p ʊ t n ɪ k ˈ s p ʌ t n ɪ k.
On 4 october 1957 the soviet union launched the world s first artificial satellite sputnik 1 since then about 8 900 satellites from more than 40 countries have been launched.
The world s first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball 58 cm or 22 8 inches in diameter weighed only 83 6 kg.
That launch ushered in new political military technological and scientific developments.
It achieved an earth orbit with an apogee farthest point from earth of 940 km 584 miles and a perigee nearest point of 230 km 143 miles circling.