Thoughts on Sputnik
by Sergei Korolev
From “Spacecraft Designer” by A. Romanov
Novosti Press Agency Publishing, Moscow 1976
I entered the field of rocketry with hopes of space flights and satellite launchings. However, for a long time there were no realistic possibilities of this. One could only dream of attaining the earth satellite velocity. With the creation of powerful ballistic rockets the cherished goal drew nearer. We closely watched the reports on preparations for the launching of a satellite in the United States of America, named by them, suggestively, Vanguard. At that time some people thought it would be the first in space. We made our calculations, too, and were positive that we could put a good 100 kilograms into orbit.
In January 1956 the preliminary decision on building the first artificial earth satellite in 1957-58 was taken. Under the chairmanship of the Vice-President of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Mstislav Keldysh, a number of scientific conferences were held which brought together experts in different fields who in one way or another had a stake in space research. There was one question on the agenda - what could an artificial satellite do for science, what instruments should be placed on board and who would take on the job of producing them.
So the talk that there were opponents of the space program is groundless? No, not so. Any new undertaking has its supporters and opponents. Especially one like first Sputniks or the first manned space flight. Opinions were extremely diverse. But to summarize in brief - it was a struggle between those who ‘dared’ and those who ‘doubted.’ But between these two viewpoints a third one often cropped up, and moreover in no uncertain terms and convincing in its own way.
Should one spend huge sums of money on space exploration which, it was claimed, would yield nothing palpable for man? Wouldn’t it be better to get busy with ‘earthly’ affairs, to heal the wounds of war as rapidly as possible? There were also discussions between scientists of a purely scientific, technical, engineering nature. Which was quite understandable. We were searching for optimum solutions. The final decision was taken with regard to the first Sputnik in the summer of 1957.
And October 4, 1957, crowned our efforts and experiments of many years. It was small, that first artificial satellite of our old planet, but its clear signal rang around the world. In those unforgettable days the distant sky was no longer ordinary: among the clouds and far-off stars our Soviet Sputnik sped like a bright dot. It was watched, waited for, talked about throughout the world.