How it began
In 1954 the chief Soviet rocket designer Sergei Korolev proposed a plan for an artificial satellite to the minister of the defense industry. A heavy scientific satellite, Object D, of 1,000 to 1,400 kilograms was approved for 1957 to 1958. To beat any American attempt, Korolev's engineers at the design bureau OKB-1 set that project aside and from January 1957 put together a much simpler satellite, called PS-1. It was launched on 4 October 1957 from the Tyuratam launch base in the Kazakh republic of the Soviet Union, so the satellite was a Russian design flown from present-day Kazakhstan.
How it works
Sputnik 1 was a polished metal sphere 58 centimeters in diameter with four external radio antennas that broadcast radio pulses. Its total mass was 83.6 kilograms. It was carried into orbit by a version of the R-7 rocket and circled the Earth about every 96 minutes in an elliptical low orbit. The orbit was inclined at 65 degrees, so its path covered virtually the entire inhabited Earth, and its signal was easily picked up by amateur radio operators.
Who pushed back
Most senior OKB-1 designers preferred a conical satellite because it fit well with the nose cone of the rocket, but Korolev insisted on the sphere. NASA's history of the project also records some token resistance to replacing the large scientific satellite with a simple one, and notes that Korolev had to try more than once to win approval for the simple satellite program in early 1957.
What changed first
The launch began a new era of political, military, technological and scientific developments. Tracking stations heard the distinct beeping signal after the first orbit and confirmed the satellite was in orbit. In the United States the event set off immediate political debate, with senators attacking cuts to missile funding within days. Sputnik transmitted until 26 October 1957 and burned up on 4 January 1958 after about 1,440 orbits.
What lasted
Sputnik 1 is remembered as the first artificial Earth satellite. The story behind it stayed largely conjecture during decades of Soviet secrecy; Korolev's name stopped appearing in publications on rocketry, and detailed accounts of how the satellite came about became possible only after the dissolution of the Soviet state in 1991.
