 Artist's impression of Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, in orbit | |
| Orbital launches | |
|---|---|
| First | 4 October |
| Last | 6 December |
| Total | 3 |
| Successes | 1 |
| Failures | 1 |
| Partial failures | 1 |
| Catalogued | 2 |
| National firsts | |
| Spaceflight |  Australia United Kingdom |
| Satellite |  Soviet Union |
| Orbital launch | Soviet Union |
| Rockets | |
| Maiden flights |  Vanguard Farside Nike-Asp Polaris FTV-5 Polaris FTV-3 HJ-Nike-Nike SM-78 Jupiter XSM-75 Thor XSM-65A Atlas R-2A R-7 Semyorka Sputnik-PS R-12 Dvina Skylark (Raven 1) Long Tom |
| Retirements | Viking (second model) Aerobee RTV-N-10 Aerobee RTV-N-10c Aerobee RTV-A-1a Loki rockoon Farside Nike-Deacon Terrapin Polaris FTV-5 Polaris FTV-3 Sputnik-PS |
The first orbital flight of an artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched in October 1957, by the Soviet Union. In November, the second orbital flight took place. The Soviet Union launched the first animal to orbit the Earth, a dog, Laika, who died in orbit a few hours after launch.
- Thor, Atlas, and R-7 rocket families all have maiden flights this year, all three of which will have long legacies for the next 50+ years
- Australia and the UK go to space with sounding rockets; first space launches from Australia
- The R-12 makes its maiden flight
- The US makes its first orbital attempt and fails (Vanguard TV-3)