--- title: Sputnik at 60: Read Original 1957 Coverage of Launch description: The satellite that kicked off the Cold War space race was launched by the USSR on Oct. 4, 1957, taking Americans by surprise. canonical: https://time.com/4958422/sputnik-1957-report/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-03T13:00:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:36:39.786Z article:section: History og:title: Sputnik at 60: Read Original 1957 Coverage of Launch og:description: The satellite that set off the Cold War space race was launched by the USSR on Oct. 4, 1957 og:url: https://time.com/4958422/sputnik-1957-report/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3a8861874f52b6c1/6988dfabcf40a806dbc49939/sputnik.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: SPUTNIK I, 1957 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sputnik at 60: Read Original 1957 Coverage of Launch twitter:description: The satellite that set off the Cold War space race was launched by the USSR on Oct. 4, 1957 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3a8861874f52b6c1/6988dfabcf40a806dbc49939/sputnik.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read TIME's Original Report on the Sputnik 1 Launch > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Oct 3, 2017 1:00 PM UTC  Illustration of Sputnik I in orbit, 1957. Illustration of Sputnik I in orbit, 1957. ullstein bild / Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Oct 3, 2017 1:00 PM UTC The Soviets called it sputnik, meaning simply “satellite” or “fellow traveler.” But to American space-watchers of 60 years ago, the satellite that launched on Oct. 4, 1957 had many meanings: defeat and discovery, but also the promise of the [space race](http://time.com/3456378/life-with-the-astrochimps-early-stars-of-the-space-race/) that was to come. The launch — the anniversary of which coincides with the beginning of [World Space Week](http://www.worldspaceweek.org/) — came as a surprise to scientists and officials in the U.S., though they quickly downplayed their shock that the USSR had the ability to get a heavy satellite into orbit, a feat the U.S. had not yet accomplished. The following week’s issue of TIME [explained](http://time.com/vault/issue/1957-10-14/page/29/) how the news broke: --- > “” --- As the science section [added](http://time.com/vault/issue/1957-10-14/page/48/), that achievement was quite remarkable: sputnik was heavier than expected — more than eight times heavier than the satellite the comparable U.S. project had been looking at — which meant that Soviet rocket capabilities were impressive. The satellite also flew higher than the American scientists had thought possible. Scientists turned on their gear to track sputnik as radio stations and amateur astronomers alike sought the telltale sound it emitted — a sound TIME called “those chilling beeps,” acknowledging that the remarkable scientific achievement was also hard proof of Communist success in a Cold War world in which scientific advancement was seen as a proxy for military might. However, as TIME noted, at least some people saw sputnik as a good sign for the U.S., realizing that it was just the kick the nation needed to commit seriously to space exploration. The reason for the Soviet success was not superior thinking, they felt, but rather that the U.S. had not yet decided to commit to the cause. 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