"Sputnik-1" - the first satellite of the Earth in the history of mankind, it was launched in the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, from the Tyura-Tam test site, which later became the Baikonur cosmodrome.
also designated as PS-1 (the simplest satellite No. 1) was launched into orbit using the Sputnik launch vehicle, which was developed on the basis of the R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile.

The flight of the first satellite of the Earth lasted 90 days, during which it made 1440 orbits around our planet.
A team of prominent Soviet scientists headed by S. P. Korolev worked on the creation of the satellite: M. V. Keldysh, M. K. Tikhonravov, N. S. Lidorenko and others.

Launch of the first Earth satellite at the Tyura-Tam test site (Baikonur):


The satellite itself is located under the head cone-shaped fairing of this rocket.

The launch of the first satellite of the Earth was truly of great importance for the whole world. The flight of the first satellite around the Earth clearly showed people that the sky is not solid and that flight into space is generally possible...
Sounds funny?
But, just think about it - at that time there really was no visual evidence, there were only calculations and assurances of scientists! Man has never gone beyond the atmosphere of our native planet.

Needless to say, what was the significance of the fact that it was the USSR that was the first to launch a satellite into space and that this launch was successful. The political weight of this event can hardly be overestimated - the entire population of the planet saw what Soviet science and technology are capable of. Western newspapers excitedly wrote about this event.
Thousands of people gathered near the equipment of radio amateurs to listen to the famous "beep-beep-beep ..."



And the sight of a flying point against the background of stars made an indelible impression on people all over the world and served as the best proof of what happened. People eagerly peered into the night sky, showing each other a tiny flying dot.



You can talk about this for a long time, but a small article simply does not allow you to do this.

There was no scientific equipment directly on the satellite itself. Nevertheless, the launch of the first Earth satellite made it possible to obtain not only extremely important technical data necessary for the further development of astronautics, but also valuable scientific information.
The technical data are treated as the work of all constituent parts launch vehicle "Sputnik", and verification of all calculations relating to the trajectory of the rocket and satellite. Data were also obtained on the operation of all systems in unusual conditions.

The most curious were the data obtained on the basis of observations of the movement of the first satellite of the Earth and the parameters of the passage of radio signals from it.
Astronomers and radio engineers have been observing how friction against the atmosphere affects the trajectory of the apparatus. Based on these data, the density of the atmosphere at orbital heights was calculated. Previously, no one had ever made such measurements - there was simply nothing to do them with! All observations were made only from the surface of the Earth. And balloons rose to a very limited height.
The big surprise was that at orbital altitudes the atmosphere is much denser than the previous calculated values. This was extremely important for calculating the trajectories of subsequent spacecraft.

A radio transmitter was installed on the satellite, which gave out short pulses at two wavelengths - 20.005 and 40.002 MHz. The duration of the signals was 0.3 s. Thanks to this, it became possible to study a little the upper layers of the Earth's ionosphere, following the passage of signals through it.
All earlier observations of the Earth's ionosphere were carried out only from its surface and the conclusions were based on the reflection of signals from the lower part of the ionosphere. Now there are also data on the passage of signals with known initial characteristics through it.

It seems strange that the first artificial satellite in the history of mankind was capable of only the usual "radio". He could not transmit any information about his flight.
And this despite the fact that for almost two years there has been a whole government program to create a space laboratory.
The fact is that at that time a real space race was going on between the USSR and the USA - who would be the first to launch the first artificial satellite of the Earth.
Information has been received that the United States is preparing to launch the first satellite in the next year, 1958. The task was to go into space first. The preparation of the laboratory took time, and the launch of the simplest satellite could be carried out quickly. This explains the device of the first satellite, which by the way bore the code name PS-1 (the simplest satellite No. 1).
The task of being the first to go into space was completed.

And already on November 3, 1957 Soviet Union launched the second satellite of the Earth, already with a lot of scientific equipment and the world's first animal-cosmonaut - the dog Laika.
The US only launched its satellite in February of the following year. So, the first space scientific laboratory was also Soviet.

Flight parameters of the first Earth satellite

As it later became clear from the telemetry decoding, literally a few fractions of a second separated us from failure.
At 16 seconds into the flight, a failure occurred in the fuel supply system, which led to an increased consumption of kerosene. That's why main engine worked one second less than the estimated time. This second might not be enough to accelerate the satellite to the first space velocity and he would fall to the ground.
The second at the final step of the acceleration is very important. Because of this second, the satellite was launched into an orbit that was as much as 90 kilometers below the calculated altitude!

Be that as it may, the first satellite of the Earth was successfully launched into orbit.
After 90 days of flight, on January 4, 1958, the first satellite of the Earth entered the dense layers of the atmosphere and burned down. Only copies of it were shown at exhibitions.

By the way, it must be said that the first satellite itself was not visible from Earth. That bright dot, which was observed by the whole world, is a much larger booster stage from a launch vehicle. This stage flew for some time near the satellite and served as an additional reference point for observing the trajectory of the satellite itself from the Earth.
But, this stage was also an artificial satellite of the Earth - it flew on a par with PS-1! So everything was fair :)

Device layout of the first artificial satellite Earth at the exhibition dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the launch of the first satellite. Moscow, October 3, 1997.



The device of the first satellite of the Earth was quite simple. Outwardly, it consisted of a metal ball with a diameter of 58 centimeters, with 4 long antennas directed "backward" relative to the direction of flight. The shell of the ball is divided into two hemispheres, opening access to the filling of the satellite. One pair of antennas was 2.7 meters long, the second - 2.4 meters. The antennas were arranged in pairs, with an angle of 70° in each pair. This ensured the uniform propagation of the radio signal in all directions, because there was no experience of receiving radio transmissions from space yet.

The internal structure of Sputnik-1:


It is easy to see that there was almost nothing special on board the satellite - only a radio transmitter. The reasons for this have been discussed above.
Sputnik-1 was located in the head part of the carrier rocket, under the fairing.
Inside the satellite were: a radio transmitter and a battery for it, a fan with a thermal relay and an air duct for the temperature control system, and an on-board electrical automation device. There were also temperature and pressure sensors. And finally, the electrical wires that connected it all together.

You can visualize the size of the first satellite of the Earth from this image:

The moment of separation of the satellite from the head fairing is modeled in this image:

Please note that on the cone opposite the antennas there are protrusions that correspond to the places where the antennas are attached to the satellite.
Actually, it doesn't say much about anything, just a curious detail.

Now, looking at modern orbital and interplanetary stations, in all their complexity and capabilities, remember that one small PS-1 paved the way for them, the first artificial Earth satellite launched in the country of the Soviets just 12 years after the war died down .. .
Nothing is impossible when there is a desire to create!

The first artificial satellite of the Earth - Sputnik-1, as it was called (code name PS-1 - The Simplest Sputnik-1), was launched by our country on October 4, 1957. The satellite had small dimensions and was launched into orbit by a civilian modification of a military rocket. It was very simple, it flew "not far" and not for long, but it brought humanity to new heights, to which it has been going all its history. And although this flight could have failed, it nevertheless took place.

10 facts about the first satellite

1. The first satellite was small.

The first artificial earth satellite round shape with a diameter of only 58 centimeters, it is approximately the same as the wheel of the Zhiguli, but at the same time weighed 86 kilograms. 4 "antennae" were fixed on the satellite - antennas through which a radio signal was continuously emitted - proof that our satellite is in space.

2. The satellite "went" into space on the Gagarin rocket

A two-stage Sputnik launch vehicle was used to put the satellite into orbit. This missile was created on the basis of the R-7 military missile (an intercontinental ballistic missile). A little less than a month later, Sputnik-2 was launched on the same rocket, and three and a half years later, on the same rocket, but with modifications with the words "Let's go!" the first earthling, our compatriot, went into space.

3. Sputnik-1 flew low

The first satellite flew in an elongated elliptical orbit and was relatively low. The closest point to the Earth in the satellite's orbit, perigee, was only 228 kilometers from Earth - this is about twice as high as the point where the earth's atmosphere ends and space begins. The farthest point of the orbit from the Earth, the apogee, was 947 kilometers - this is about twice as high as our astronauts now fly on the International Space Station or ISS for short. Now many satellites fly much higher, such as GLONASS or GPS satellites, and some spacecraft fly to other planets or even leave the solar system.

4. The first satellite did not fly long

The satellite stayed in space for exactly three months: it launched on October 4, 1957, and completed its flight on January 4, 1958. At the same time, he “wound” about 60 million kilometers - if he flew from the Earth directly to the Sun, he would fly a little more than a third of the way, or he could fly to Mars when it is closest to the Earth. During this time, he made 1440 revolutions around the Earth, each time getting closer to it, then entered the upper layers of the atmosphere, lost speed and burned up in the earth's atmosphere.

5. Was simple

The first satellite had the simplest task - to enter the Earth's orbit, to “spin” a little there and tell everyone about it, so it had the simplest device: on-board automation, a radio transmitter, a thermal control system, temperature and pressure sensors and batteries that weighed 2/3 from the weight of the satellite and ensured the operation of all onboard equipment. He had two radio transmitters: one worked in the frequency range of 20 MHz, and the second - 40 MHz, they made it possible to track the trajectory of the satellite and made it possible for radio amateurs to “listen” to it. Radio transmitters worked for two weeks after launch.

6. The "father of the satellite" was not its creator

The creators of the satellite remained secret for a long time and did not have the opportunity to inform the general public about their success. Academician Leonid Ivanovich Sedov did it for them at the International Astronautical Congress in Barcelona, ​​the opening of which coincided with the launch day. So Leonid Ivanovich became known to the world community as the "father of Sputnik." In fact, other prominent scientists and great minds worked on the satellite, the creation of which was led by Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, such as M. V. Keldysh, M. K. Tikhonravov, N. S. Lidorenko, G. Yu. Maksimov and many, many other.

7. Short flight long preparation

As mentioned above, Sputnik-1 was quite simple, and the actual creation of the satellite began only at the beginning of 1956 - a little less than two years before the launch. But the task was many times more difficult - to put a satellite into orbit into space.

People have long looked into the night sky and dreamed of reaching the stars, but only closer to the twentieth century did they come close to their dreams. Theoretical basis flights into space was laid at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries by a simple school teacher Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. Largely thanks to the work of Tsiolkovsky, in 1931 the Jet Propulsion Study Group was created in the USSR, which was engaged in the design of rockets, in which, in particular, Tsander, Tikhonravov, Pobedonostsev worked , Korolev. In 1933, this group was transformed into the Jet Institute, which continued work on the creation and improvement of rockets. But only in 1948, including using foreign experience, a significant result was achieved - tests of the R-1 rocket began at the Kapustin Yar test site. There were R-2, R-3, R-5, and only on May 15, 1957, the first tests of the R-7 rocket took place, the modification of which already in October of the same year carried Sputnik-1 to the stars.

8. Might not take off

On Friday, October 4, 1957, at 22:28:34 Moscow time, a successful launch was made. 295 seconds after the launch, the satellite and the second stage of the rocket went into orbit, and 314.5 seconds after the launch, the satellite separated from the central block of the rocket and began to transmit a radio signal.

The reception and processing of the first satellite signals showed that the launch was a second away from failure. The stages and modes of operation of the rocket are very tightly controlled, and if they are violated at the start, the launch is automatically canceled. After starting, one of the engines was late and went into mode less than a second before the start was canceled. In addition, during the first seconds of the flight, the fuel management system failed, there was an overrun of fuel, and the central engine turned off a second earlier than expected.

9. Not visible from the ground

The successful launch of the first artificial satellite of the Earth attracted enormous attention from the inhabitants of the entire planet. Thousands of radio amateurs around the world listened to the signals transmitted by the satellite, and even recorded them, and millions of people gazed into the night sky, trying to see the satellite flying in space. Many believed that they saw with the naked eye a satellite that, like the Moon, shone with reflected sunlight, but this is a misconception, although it was often published in the press. As written above, the dimensions of the satellite were too small and it was impossible to see it from the ground without instruments, and what people mistakenly took for a satellite was the second stage of the rocket that put it into orbit.

10. Not just the first

The launch of the first satellite was of great political importance for our country - the Soviet Union was considered technically backward in comparison with the "advanced" United States, so the squeak of Sputnik's transmitters struck like a bolt from the blue for the USA.

But in addition to political tasks, the satellite solved a number of scientific and practical tasks:

• the satellite's radio signals made it possible to begin studying the upper layers of the ionosphere - before that, they only observed the reflection of radio waves from the layers of the ionosphere located below the zone of maximum ionization;
• verification of calculations and technical solutions adopted for the launch;
• study of the operating conditions of the Sputnik equipment;
• by the deceleration of the satellite, mankind for the first time got the opportunity to experimentally determine the density of the upper layers of the atmosphere.

As already mentioned, there was no scientific equipment on the Sputnik. Important scientific data were obtained by studying the change in the nature of the radio signal and optical observation of the satellite's orbit.

Radio magazine published in advance detailed recommendations for receiving signals from space, thanks to which thousands of radio amateurs around the world the globe had the undoubted pleasure of hearing "greetings" from space and following the movement of the Sputnik.

Recording of Sputnik radio signals made in America

Recording of Sputnik radio signals made in Germany

The launch date is considered the beginning of the space age of mankind, and in Russia it is celebrated as a memorable day for the Space Forces.