The Launch. Sputnik 1 was launched on October 4, 1957, at 1928 UTC from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in present-day Kazakhstan using the R-7 rocket. It was also known as Sputnik 8K71PS, ...

Read TIME’s Original Report on the Sputnik 1 Launch. 3 minute read. Illustration of Sputnik I in orbit, 1957. ullstein bild / Getty Images. By Lily Rothman. October 3, 2017 9:00 AM EDT.

On Oct. 4, 1957, the former Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik 1 the first human-made object to enter Earth orbit. See photos from the historic mission.

On Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviet Union stunned the world with its surprise launch of Sputnik 1. See how the historic satellite launch worked in this SPACE.com infographic.

Oct. 4—66 years ago, on October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world into the space race after sending the first satellite, Sputnik 1, into orbit. Sputnik 1 weighed around 184 pounds and ...

But without a doubt, he says, his favorite mission was the one that launched the Voyager space probes 40 years ago, 20 years after Sputnik 1 beeped its way across the twilit sky in Iowa.

A Soviet engineer displays a replica of Sputnik at a 1957 Moscow exhibition. Photo: Bettmann / CORBIS 1957: The Space Age dawns a little sooner than expected with the successful launch of Sputnik ...