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3 A Brief History of Space Flight
Korolev and Tikhonravov as deputies, which was tasked to oversee the satellite development program. Meanwhile, the messages for the Americans to develop the satellites were also exciting the USSR to speed up its space program. On July 29, 1955,
President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally announced the intention of the United
States to launch a satellite during International Geophysical Year, and the National
Geographic then confidently assured Americans that “History would record that date
as the day the White House announced that the United States would build the first true
space vehicle”. Subsequently, on August 3 of the same year, at the sixth Congress
of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), Academician Sedov, not to be
outdone, also said that the USSR intended to launch a satellite. Not doubt, Sedov’s
statement was sanctioned in Moscow in response to the U.S. challenges.
The project on the Soviet first artificial earth satellite consists of four major tasks
as follows:
(1) The first task is to develop a special launch vehicle, which was designed under
the Korolov’s leadership and named “Sputnik” (the pronunciation in Russian,
Cpytnik) rocket. The Sputnik rocket, with a number of 8K71PS, was modified
and accomplished on the basis of the R-7 missile and was composed of a core
stage, four strap-on boosters and a fairing, with a total length of 29.169 m, liftoff weight of 267.3 metric tons, lift-off thrust of 398,000 kgf and thrust-weight
ratio of 1.49.
(2) The second task is to build a rocket launch site. The Sputnik rocket launch
site is located in the region of Tyuratam, the Republic of Kazakhstan, with
a geographic location of 63.4° E and 45.9°N, and with 2100 km away from
Moscow, 150-km east of the Aral Sea, 288-km southwest of Baikonur town,
and an average altitude of 90 m, belonging to semi-desert grassland, saline–
alkali beach and hilly area with few people. In the middle of the 1950s, to meet
the requirement of testing the R-7 missile with a range of 8800 km, Korolev
set out selecting a new launch site and insisted on choosing the location as
far south as possible, which could not only increase the range of the missiles
but also fully use the assistance from the earth’s rotation. By comparing with
other several sites, the Tyuratam was finally selected as the launched site, whose
construction began shortly thereafter. On June 2, 1955, the Chief of Staff of the
Soviet Ministry of Defense approved the organizational structure of a new test
range near Tyuratam, and the date became an official “birthday” of the launch
site. To maintain its secrecy, the launch site was named Baikonur Cosmodrome
rather than Tyuratam Cosmodrome. The first launch pad was built in March
1957 and subsequently applied to launching the R-7 missile. The launch site
is 120-km long from the east to the west and 80-km wide from the south to
the north, which is composed of the launch area, support area and monitoring
stations.
(3) The third task is to develop the satellite body and its onboard scientific devices.
The satellite is called PS-1 or Sputnik-1, and its design goals are to ensure absolute success of the launch and make the world feel its existence. The satellite
3 A Brief History of Space Flight
Korolev and Tikhonravov as deputies, which was tasked to oversee the satellite development program. Meanwhile, the messages for the Americans to develop the satellites were also exciting the USSR to speed up its space program. On July 29, 1955,
President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally announced the intention of the United
States to launch a satellite during International Geophysical Year, and the National
Geographic then confidently assured Americans that “History would record that date
as the day the White House announced that the United States would build the first true
space vehicle”. Subsequently, on August 3 of the same year, at the sixth Congress
of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), Academician Sedov, not to be
outdone, also said that the USSR intended to launch a satellite. Not doubt, Sedov’s
statement was sanctioned in Moscow in response to the U.S. challenges.
The project on the Soviet first artificial earth satellite consists of four major tasks
as follows:
(1) The first task is to develop a special launch vehicle, which was designed under
the Korolov’s leadership and named “Sputnik” (the pronunciation in Russian,
Cpytnik) rocket. The Sputnik rocket, with a number of 8K71PS, was modified
and accomplished on the basis of the R-7 missile and was composed of a core
stage, four strap-on boosters and a fairing, with a total length of 29.169 m, liftoff weight of 267.3 metric tons, lift-off thrust of 398,000 kgf and thrust-weight
ratio of 1.49.
(2) The second task is to build a rocket launch site. The Sputnik rocket launch
site is located in the region of Tyuratam, the Republic of Kazakhstan, with
a geographic location of 63.4° E and 45.9°N, and with 2100 km away from
Moscow, 150-km east of the Aral Sea, 288-km southwest of Baikonur town,
and an average altitude of 90 m, belonging to semi-desert grassland, saline–
alkali beach and hilly area with few people. In the middle of the 1950s, to meet
the requirement of testing the R-7 missile with a range of 8800 km, Korolev
set out selecting a new launch site and insisted on choosing the location as
far south as possible, which could not only increase the range of the missiles
but also fully use the assistance from the earth’s rotation. By comparing with
other several sites, the Tyuratam was finally selected as the launched site, whose
construction began shortly thereafter. On June 2, 1955, the Chief of Staff of the
Soviet Ministry of Defense approved the organizational structure of a new test
range near Tyuratam, and the date became an official “birthday” of the launch
site. To maintain its secrecy, the launch site was named Baikonur Cosmodrome
rather than Tyuratam Cosmodrome. The first launch pad was built in March
1957 and subsequently applied to launching the R-7 missile. The launch site
is 120-km long from the east to the west and 80-km wide from the south to
the north, which is composed of the launch area, support area and monitoring
stations.
(3) The third task is to develop the satellite body and its onboard scientific devices.
The satellite is called PS-1 or Sputnik-1, and its design goals are to ensure absolute success of the launch and make the world feel its existence. The satellite