What the FAQ: What is the  purpose of the Sputnik 1 satelite? When was it launched?

As businessman Anand Mahindra posted a photo of the Sputnik 1 satelite on Twitter. Neitizens reacted to his tweet and asked what the object was. While some went ahead and wrote the name of the satellite, some posted memes and remained confused.

After confirming that the picture he posted is of Sputnik 1, Earth's first artificial satellite, we decided to dig in for more information about the satellite, when and who launched it.

When was Sputnik 1 launched?
Soviet Union now called Russia launched the Earth's first artificial satellite Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957. This resulted in intensifying the arms race and cold war tensions between Soviet Union and other countries.

What is the purpose of Sputnik 1 satellite?
According to the observation by the scientists at NASA, the pressurised sphere is made of alluminium alloy and it has different objectives. These objectives include testing the method of placing an artificial satellite into Earth orbit; provide information on the density of the atmosphere by calculating its lifetime in orbit; test radio and optical methods of orbital tracking.

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Who were the scientists involved in developing Sputnik 1?
A group of scientists who were lead by Mikhail Tikhonravov worked to developed the first artificial  satellite post World War II. However, even before that, in 1903, Russian rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky proved mathematically that an artificial satellite could be created. 

How many years did the satellite Sputnik 1 work?
The core stage of the R-7 remained in orbit for two months until December 2, 1957 and Sputnik 1 orbited for three months, until  January 4, 1958. It completed around 1,440 orbits of the Earth.