Sputnik 1 (Replica)

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Launching the first artificial satellites began the space age and started the Soviet-American space race.

Display Status:

This object is on display in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

Sputnik 1 (Replica) View Exhibition

Collection Item Summary:

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union sent Sputnik 1 into orbit. Sputnik contained a radio transmitter that sent back the “beep-beep-beep” heard around the world. The satellite was the first to orbit the Earth and began a "space race" between the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A.

Collection Item Long Description:

What's inside Sputnik?

On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union sent into orbit Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite. Sputnik (seen here in an expanded view) contained radio transmitters that sent back the “beep-beep-beep” heard around the world.  

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U.S. Satellite Responses to Sputnik

Launched quickly after Sputnik, the first U.S. test satellite failed when its Vanguard launch rocket exploded. It took almost two months before an Army missile launched Explorer 1 on January 31, 1958. The first successful U.S. satellite contained a cosmic ray detector, a radio transmitter, and temperature and micrometeoroid sensors. Its flight marked America’s entry in the space race, a new Cold War competition.

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  • Sputnik Model in the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall

    Swept Back Look

    Even though Sputnik tumbled while in orbit, its antennae were designed to look swept back, streamlined.

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