When was the first artificial satellite developed?

The first, named Sputnik 40 to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1, was deployed in November 1997. Sputnik 41 was launched a year later, and Sputnik 99 was deployed in February 1999. read more

The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a basketball and weighed only 183 pounds. It took about 98 minutes for Sputnik I to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. The launch ushered in new political, military, technological and scientific developments and marked the beginning of the space race between the U.S.and the U.S.S.R. read more

The first satellite, Sputnik 1, was put into orbit around Earth and was therefore in geocentric orbit. By far this is the most common type of orbit with approximately 1,459 artificial satellites orbiting the Earth. Geocentric orbits may be further classified by their altitude, inclination and eccentricity. read more