Sputnik Full-scale Model

Sputnik Full-scale Model

Full scale model of Sputnik 1 – made by Russian company Znannia, based on original designs and photographs. Using an exhibit at the RKK Energia Museum, technical drawings, and photographs from the Russian Research Center of Space Documentation, Znannia were able to produce this high-fidelity model of the first human-made satellite to orbit the Earth. The quality and accuracy of the model was verified by Oleg Genrikhovich Ivanovski - the deputy principal designer of Sputnik. Ivanovski certified that it is a 'correct and detailed replica of Sputnik 1'.

The original Sputnik was launched on 4 October 1957 and was the world's first artificial satellite. Launched into geocentric orbit by the Soviet Union, it was the first of a series of satellites collectively known as the Sputnik programme. The unanticipated announcement of Sputnik 1's success precipitated the Sputnik Crisis in the United States and ignited the Space Race within the Cold War. Americans were able to tune in to Sputnik's radio signal as it went overhead, and there was a general shock and fear at the fact that Russia had achieved this feat before the USA.

Chief Designer of the Soviet space programme, Sergei Korolev, insisted on Sputnik being shiny in appearance, as it needed to reflect the Sun's rays as much as possible to avoid over-heating. The satellite would use four radio antennae to send a signal back to Earth from its internal radio transmitter device, with engineers worrying that over-heating could stop the signal being sent. The only other instrumentation Sputnik had was a battery and temperature measuring device.

Korolev predicted that replicas of Sputnik would end up on display in museums all over the world – a prediction that came true.

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