The Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite in history.

The Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite in history.

On October 4, 1957 successfully launched the first artificial satellite in history, Sputnik I, the first of several satellites launched by the Soviet Union as Sputnik program. It was launched from Kazakhstan, formerly part of the USSR. His name, in Russian, means "traveling companion".

The satellite reached orbit Earth at a distance of 938 kilometers, and obtained information about the density of the upper layers of the atmosphere and the propagation of radio waves in the ionosphere. A few months later, on January 4, 1958, he was incinerated during reentry.

The launch of Sputnik was a heavy blow for the US, where he was conducting the Vanguard project to design and plan two satellites. They feared that the Soviets had taken the lead in the arms race. Eisenhower, the then US president, responded by accelerating the space program were carried out, resulting in the launch of the satellite Explorer I on 1 January 1958. The space race had begun.

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