MOSCOW, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Russia Monday celebrated the 47th anniversary of the launch of the first satellite to orbit Earth, Novosti reported.
Known as Sputnik 1, it was launched Oct. 4, 1957, beginning the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States, Novosti reported.
Sputnik 1 was put into orbit by a R-7 carrier rocket that was launched from Soviet Union's Defense Ministry's 5th research testing ground, later named Baikonur.
The satellite, which was equipped with four antennas that transmitted radio signals from the battery-powered transmitters on the satellite, orbited Earth for 92 days, until Jan. 4, 1958. It completed 1,440 orbits of the Earth and its radio transmitters worked for two weeks.
The United States repeated the Soviet Union's success on Feb. 1, 1958.
