The Soviet Union inaugurated the “Space Age” with its launch
of , the world’s first artificial satellite, on October 4, 1957.

The spacecraft, named Sputnik after the Russian word for
“fellow traveler,” was launched at 10:29 p.m. Moscow time
from the Tyuratam launch base in the Kazakh Republic.

Sputnik had a diameter of 22 inches and weighed 184 pounds
and circled Earth once every hour and 36 minutes. Traveling
at 18,000 miles an hour, its elliptical orbit had an apogee
(farthest point from Earth) of 584 miles and a perigee (nearest
point) of 143 miles.