Sputnik 3

Sputnik 3
	A model of Sputnik 3 in the Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics
Mission type	Earth Science
Operator	OKB-1
Harvard designation	1958 Delta 2
COSPAR ID	1958-004B
SATCAT no.	00008
Website	NASA NSSDC Master Catalog
Mission duration	692 days
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	Korolev Design Bureau
Launch mass	1,327 kilograms (2,926 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	15 May 1958, 07:12:00 UTC
Rocket	Sputnik 8A91
Launch site	Baikonur 1/5
End of mission
Decay date	April 6, 1960
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Semi-major axis	7,418.7 kilometres (4,609.8 mi)
Eccentricity	0.110932
Perigee altitude	217 kilometres (135 mi)
Apogee altitude	1,864 kilometres (1,158 mi)
Inclination	65.18°
Period	105.9 minutes
Epoch	15 May 1958 07:12:00 UTC
	Sputnik program ← Sputnik 2 Korabl-Sputnik 1 →

Instruments
Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer	Composition of the upper atmosphere
Ionization and Magnetic Manometer	Pressure of the upper atmosphere
Geiger counters	Charged particles
Piezo-Electric Meteorite Counter	Micrometeoroids
Fluxgate Magnetometer	Magnetic field
Field Mill Electrometer	Electric field

Universal newsreel about the Soviet Union's Industrial Exhibition in 1958 featuring a replica of 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 the upper atmosphere and near space.

Sputnik 3 was the only Soviet satellite launched in 1958. Like its American counterpart, Vanguard 1, Sputnik 3 reached orbit during the International Geophysical Year.^[1]

^ Green, Constance McLaughlin, and Lomax, Milton.. Vanguard a History, Washington D.C., National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1970, p. 219. NASA SP-4202