Launch of Sputnik 3

Sputnik 3 was a Soviet research satellite, much larger than the first two Sputniks and designed as an orbiting geophysical laboratory. An earlier launch attempt had failed, and this one succeeded. The satellite carried instruments to measure the Earth's upper atmosphere, cosmic rays, the magnetic field, micrometeorites and the density of charged particles, and it helped to map the radiation belts around the Earth that had been found by the American Explorer 1. A tape recorder malfunction limited the data it could store. It stayed in orbit for almost two years before re-entering the atmosphere. The mission was a notable scientific step in the early years of the Space Race.

Open on the timeline