The name of the first man-made satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1957 was "Sputnik 1." It was a historic achievement and marked the beginning of the space age. Sputnik 1 was a simple spherical satellite that transmitted radio signals back to Earth and orbited the planet every 96.2 minutes. Its launch on October 4, 1957, ignited the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union and had a profound impact on science, technology, and geopolitics.