When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Each year, the first week of October kicks off the United Nation's World Space Week, which ...

Top image: The Soviet Union successfully launched the Sputnik 1 satellite on Oct. 4, 1957, surprising the world and kicking off the space race. This was the first human-made satellite. Its name ...

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, a modified intercontinental ...