Researched
First satellite (Sputnik)
On 4 October 1957 the Soviet Sputnik 1 became the first artificial satellite and started the space race.
Open in the interactive tree →Sputnik was a 58 cm sphere sending radio beeps for three weeks. The US answered with Explorer 1 in January 1958, which found the Van Allen radiation belts, and founded NASA that year. Satellites for weather, communication, navigation and Earth observation followed.
Prerequisites
- Electromagnetism1831-1865
- Radio (Wireless Telegraphy)1895Sputnik's beeps were radio signals; satellites communicate by radio
- Liquid-fuel rocket (V-2)1942
- International Geophysical Year1957-1958Sputnik was launched as the Soviet contribution to the International Geophysical Year
Unlocks
- Earth observation by satellite1960
- First human in space1961
- Communications Satellites1962
- Black Holes (Cygnus X-1)1971-72
- Deep-space probes (Voyager)1977
- Hubble Space Telescope1990
- Satellite Altimetry & Sea Level1992
- Satellite navigation (GPS)1995
- Gaia: 3D Map of the Milky Way2018–2022
- Satellite mega-constellations2019
- Space debris controlopen
More in Space & Astronomy · Atomic & Space Age
- Apollo Guidance Computer1961-1969
- First human in space1961
- Pulsars1967
- Moon landing1969
- Black Holes (Cygnus X-1)1971-72
- Space stations1971
- Deep-space probes (Voyager)1977
- Space Shuttle1981