Sputnik (rocket)

Sputnik 727

Sputnik rocket
Function	Early (first) carrier rocket
Manufacturer	OKB-1
Country of origin	USSR
Size
Height	8K71PS: 30.0 m (98.4 ft) 8A91: 31.1 m (102 ft)
Diameter	2.99 m (9.8 ft)
Mass	8K71PS: 267,000 kg (589,000 lb) 8A91: 269,300 kg (593,700 lb)
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO (8K71PS)
Mass	8K71PS: 500 kg (1,100 lb) 8A91: 1,327 kg (2,926 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	R-7
Comparable	Vanguard Juno I
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	LC-1/5, Baikonur
Total launches	4 (2 8K71PS, 2 8A91)
Success(es)	3
Failure(s)	1 (8A91)
First flight	8K71PS: 4 October 1957 8A91: 27 April 1958
Last flight	8K71PS: 3 November 1957 8A91: 15 May 1958
Type of passengers/cargo	Sputnik 1 Sputnik 2 Sputnik 3
Boosters (Block B, V, G, D)
No. boosters	4
Powered by	1 RD-107
Maximum thrust	970 kN (220,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	306 s
Burn time	120 s
Propellant	LOX/Kerosene
First stage (Block A)
Powered by	1 RD-108
Maximum thrust	912 kN (205,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	308 s
Burn time	330 s
Propellant	LOX/Kerosene
[edit on Wikidata]

The Sputnik rocket was an uncrewed orbital carrier rocket designed by Sergei Korolev in the Soviet Union, derived from the R-7 Semyorka ICBM. On 4 October 1957, it was used to perform the world's first satellite launch, placing Sputnik 1 into a low Earth orbit.

Two versions of the Sputnik were built, the Sputnik-PS (GRAU index 8K71PS), which was used to launch Sputnik 1 and later Sputnik 2, and the Sputnik (8A91), which failed to launch a satellite in April 1958, and subsequently launched Sputnik 3 on 15 May 1958.^[1]

A later member of the R-7 family, 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.