The Soviets continued refining their design for launch on an R-7 rocket. Compromise satellite. Sputnik ("traveling companion" in Russian) was a silver sphere with four long antennas.

But while many museums display replicas of Sputnik, few pay tribute to its rocket. No, a rocket is not easy to fit into a display case, but it was Cold War secrecy that limited the R-7's legacy.

Sputnik 1 was lofted by an R-7 rocket, which consisted of four first-stage boosters — known as Blocks B, V, G and D — strapped onto a core second stage (Block A).

Few people actually saw Sputnik and its rocket take off — and when they did, they feared at first that the launch was a failure. The world's first-ever orbital liftoff provided a new perspective ...

Sputnik proved that the Soviet Union had a rocket large enough to put a satellite in orbit. Sputnik weighed about 80 kilograms — compare to Explorer One, the U.S.’s first satellite, which ...

How did America respond to the Soviet Union’s space dominance? The Mercury Rocket was supposed to put the U.S. ahead, but despite its early victories, it was quickly replaced. Why? Find out the ...

This is a non-flying, staatic display model rocket of the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1 launch vehicle, made by Model Products in the late 1950s or early 1960s. There is a representation of the Sputnik 1 ...