The Sputnik rocket was an uncrewed

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a p ...

carrier rocket A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad, launch pads, supported by a missile launch contro ...

Sergei Korolev Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (russian: Сергей Павлович Королёв, Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov, sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ kərɐˈlʲɵf, Ru-Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.ogg; ukr, Сергій Павлович Корольов, ...

in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, derived from the

R-7 Semyorka The R-7 Semyorka (russian: link=no, Р-7 Семёрка), officially the GRAU index 8K71, was a Soviet missile developed during the Cold War, and the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile. The R-7 made 28 launches between 1957 and 1 ...

ICBM An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...

. On 4 October 1957, it was used to perform the world's first

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

launch, placing ''

Sputnik 1 Sputnik 1 (; see § Etymology) was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for t ...

'' into a

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...

. Two versions of the Sputnik were built, the Sputnik-PS (

GRAU The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (), commonly referred to by its transliterated Russian acronym GRAU (), is a department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the ...

index 8K71PS), which was used to launch ''Sputnik 1'' and later ''

Sputnik 2 Sputnik 2 (, russian: Спутник-2, ''Satellite 2''), or Prosteyshiy Sputnik 2 (PS-2, russian: Простейший Спутник 2, italic=yes, ''Simplest Satellite 2'') was the second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit, on 3 November 195 ...

'', and the Sputnik (8A91), which failed to launch a satellite in April 1958, and subsequently launched ''

Sputnik 3 Sputnik 3 (russian: Спутник-3, Satellite 3) was a Soviet satellite launched on 15 May 1958 from Baikonur Cosmodrome by a modified R-7/SS-6 ICBM. The scientific satellite carried a large array of instruments for geophysical research of t ...

'' on 15 May 1958. A later member of the

R-7 family The R-7 family of rockets (russian: Р-7) is a series of rockets, derived from the Soviet R-7 Semyorka, the world's first ICBM. More R-7 rockets have been launched than any other family of large rockets. When Soviet nuclear warheads became li ...

, 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.

Specifications

*First Stage: Block B, V, G, D (four strap-on boosters) **Gross mass: 43.0 tons **Empty mass: 3.400 tons **Thrust (vac): 4 × 99,000 kgf = 396 Mgf (3.89 MN) **

Isp An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise private ...

: 306 s (3,000 N·s/kg) **Burn time: 120 s (2 min) **

(sl): 250 s (2,450 N·s/kg) **Diameter: **Span: **Length: (without nozzles) **Propellants:

LOX Liquid oxygen—abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries—is the liquid form of molecular oxygen. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an appli ...

Kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

**Engines: 1 x

RD-107 The RD-107 and its sibling, the RD-108, are a type of rocket engine initially used to launch R-7 Semyorka missiles. RD-107 engines were later used on space launch vehicles based on the R-7. , very similar RD-107A and RD-108A engines are used to la ...

-8D74PS per booster = 4 *Second Stage: Block A (core stage) **Gross mass: 94.0 tons **Empty mass: 7.495 tons **Thrust (vac): 99,000 kgf (970 kN) **Isp: 308 s (3,020 N·s/kg) **Burn time: 310 s (5 min 10 s) **Isp(sl): 241 s (2,360 N·s/kg) **Diameter: **Span: **Length: **Propellants:

**Engine: 1 x

RD-108 The RD-107 and its sibling, the RD-108, are a type of rocket engine initially used to launch R-7 Semyorka missiles. RD-107 engines were later used on space launch vehicles based on the R-7. , very similar RD-107A and RD-108A engines are used to l ...

-8D75PS *Total mass: 267 tons (534,000 lb) *Total span: * LEO payload: 500 kg *Total liftoff thrust: 3.89 MN Roket_Launcher_R-7

Sputnik 8A91

The Sputnik 8A91 had more powerful 8D76 and 8D77 engines installed, increasing its payload capacity, and allowing it to launch much heavier satellites than ''Sputnik 1'' and ''Sputnik 2''. It was launched two times, in 1958. The first launch, on 27 April, failed due to vibrations that unexpectedly occurred during the flight along the longitudinal axis of the rocket. On 15 May, it successfully launched ''Sputnik 3''.Soviet Solar Cells on Orbit
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Sputnik specifications

*Stage number: 0 - Strap-on boosters; 4 x Sputnik 8A91-0 **Gross mass: 43.0 tons **Empty mass: 3.400 tons **Thrust (vac): 4 × 99,000 kgf = 396 Mgf (3.89 MN) **

: 310 s (3,040 N·s/kg) **Burn time: 130 s (2 min 10 s) **Isp(sl): 252 s (2,470 N·s/kg) **Diameter: **Span: **Length: (without nozzles) **Propellants: Lox/Kerosene **Engines: 1 x

-8D76 per booster = 4 *Stage number: 1 - Core stage; 1 x Sputnik 8A91-1 **Gross mass: 95.0 tons **Empty mass: 7.100 tons **Thrust (vac): 82,000 kgf (804 kN) **Isp: 315 s (3,090 N·s/kg) **Burn time: 360 s (6 min) **Isp(sl): 246 s (2,410 N·s/kg) **Diameter: **Length: **Propellants: LOX/Kerosene **Engine: 1 x RD-108-8D77 *Total mass: 269.3 tons *Total span: * LEO payload: 1,327 kg (2,925 lb) *Total liftoff thrust: 385,950 kgf (3.784 MN, 850,870

lbf The pound of force or pound-force (symbol: lbf, sometimes lbf,) is a unit of force used in some systems of measurement, including English Engineering units and the foot–pound–second system. Pound-force should not be confused with pound-m ...

)

References

{{Use British English, date=January 2014 R-7 (rocket family) Space launch vehicles of the Soviet Union Sputnik Vehicles introduced in 1957 1950s neologisms