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The USSR responds to US
the USSR responds to the US announcement that they intended to launch the first artificial satellite into space with a satellite of their own -
The USSR first satellite
The USSR successfully launches Sputnik 1, the first Earth-orbiting satellite in history. -
the second satellite for USSR
The USSR successfully launches Sputnik 2, carrying a dog named Laika into space. They became the first nation to successfully send a living organism into orbit -
The US competes with USSR
The US enter the Space Race by launching Explorer 1, the first US satellite to reach orbit. It carried experimental equipment that led to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt. -
NASA is created
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is created in the US, replacing the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA). -
The worlds first communication satellite
The Us launch SCORE, the world’s first communication satellite. It captured world attention by broadcasting a pre-recorded Christmas message from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, becoming the first broadcast of a human voice from space. -
The USSR strikes back again
The USSR launches Luna 1, known as the first “cosmic rocket” as it accidentally escaped the orbit of the Moon due to the object having too much speed. Luna 1 becomes the first human-made object to leave the orbit of the Earth and orbit the sun instead. -
US launches explorer 6
The US launches Explorer 6, the world’s first weather satellite and obtains the first pictures of Earth from space.