Sputnik - Celebrating 60 Years

Sputnik: celebrating 60 years

The 4th October 2017 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the launch of the first satellite: Sputnik. The Soviet spacecraft was only equipped with a simple transmitter, but its incessant beeping sent shockwaves around the world and its flight marked the beginning of the space race.

Today’s sophisticated satellites can trace their origins back to Sputnik and astronauts still begin their journey from the same launch site in Baikonur.

This report contains footage of the Sputnik launch, an interview (and set-up shots) in the private museum of RSC Energia – the company that built Sputnik – as well as interior and drone shots of the Cosmonautics museum in Moscow.

B-roll contains additional soundbites, including from Alexei Leonov – the first man to walk in space (in Russian). Interviews in French or Russian.
Copyright: ESA