The Launch of Sputnik (1957) – Mathematics of Orbit

Sputnik 1 was launched on October 4, 1957. Its orbit was an ellipse with perigee 215 km, apogee 939 km. Using Kepler’s laws and Newton’s law of gravitation, the orbital period was about 96 minutes. The mathematics of orbital mechanics required solving the two‑body problem (closed form). Sputnik’s beep was heard around the world – a signal that the space age had begun and that mathematics (in the form of Soviet rocketry) was a geopolitical weapon. The launch led to the creation of NASA and the space race.