Sputnik

Quick Facts About the Sputnik:

- Type : The first carrier rocket.

- Origin : Soviet Union.

- In service : 4 October 1957 – 15 May 1958.

- Mass : 267,000 kg (589,000 lb).

- Length : 30.0 m (98.4 ft).

- Diameter : 2.99 m (9.8 ft).

- Payload to Leo: 500 kg (1,100 lb).

- Propellant : LOX/Kerosene.

- Engines: Boosters: 4 RD-107 with thrust of 970 kN (220,000 lbf), First stage: 1 RD-108 with thrust of 912 kN (205,000 lbf).

The Sputnik rocket was an uncrewed orbital carrier rocket designed by Sergei Korolev in the Soviet Union, derived from the R-7 Semyorka ICBM. On 4 October 1957, it was used to perform the world's first satellite launch, placing Sputnik 1 into a low Earth orbit.

Two versions of the Sputnik were built, the Sputnik-PS (GRAU index 8K71PS), which was used to launch Sputnik 1 and later Sputnik 2, and the Sputnik (8A91), which failed to launch a satellite in April 1958, and subsequently launched Sputnik 3 on 15 May 1958.

A later member of the R-7 family, the Polyot, used the same configuration as the Sputnik rocket, but was constructed from Voskhod components. Because of the similarity, the Polyot was sometimes known as the Sputnik 11A59.