On Oct. 4, 1957, Sputnik 1 successfully launched and entered Earth's orbit. Thus, began the space age. The successful launch shocked the world, giving the former Soviet Union the distinction of putting the first human-made object into space. read more
The only real purpose of Sputnik 1 was to beat the US into space. We were getting close to launching a useful satellite, Explorer 1 - which launched on January 31, 1958. The USSR had to beat that, so they launched Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957. read more