On January 4th, 1958, the first artificial Earth satellite, called Sputnik 1, fell back into Earth’s atmosphere after successfully orbiting silently for two months. The rocket was manufactured as part of the Soviet space program by PAO S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, which was called OKB-1 at the time.

The USSR launched Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957.