Sputnik 3 Credit - © Mark Wade

In July 1956 OKB-1 completed the draft project for the first earth satellite, designated ISZ (Artificial Earth Satellite). The government go-ahead came in a decree of 3 September 1956. The Fourth Scientific Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense had meanwhile completed a draft project for the KIK ground control system. Tikhonravov's 1.4 metric ton ISZ satellite was to have been launched by the new R-7 ICBM as the Soviet Union's first satellite, but the R-7 was ready before the satellite, so it was preceded by Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2. The ISZ was a miniature physics laboratory, but was launched with a known faulty recorder, limiting data to that received when the spacecraft was over Soviet tracking stations. As a result, the Van Allen radiation belts were discovered by the United States rather than Russia.

Typical orbit: 217 km x 1864 km at 65 degrees inclination. Mass: 1,327 kg (2,925 lb). Associated Launch Vehicle: R-7.

• 1952 May 16 - International Geophysical Year Committee established. -

  The Special Committee for the International Polar Year (later designated the International Geophysical Year), was established.

• 1956 January 30 - Development of first Sputnik authorised. -

  Central Committee of the Communist Party and Council of Soviet Ministers Decree 149882 'On creation of the Object D artificial satellite' was issued.

• 1956 July 1 - OKB-1 completed draft project for the first earth satellite - Launch Vehicle: R-7.

  Tikhonravov's unit of OKB-1 completed the preliminary design of the ISZ satellite (launched as Sputnik 3). The Fourth Scientific Research Institute of the Ministry of Defence had meanwhile completed a draft project for the KIK ground control system. Tikhonravov's 1.4 tonne ISZ satellite was to have been launched by the new R-7 ICBM as the Soviet Union's first satellite, but the R-7 was ready before the satellite, so it was preceded by Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2. The ISZ was a miniature physics laboratory, but was launched with a known faulty recorder, limiting data to that received when the spacecraft was over Soviet tracking stations. As a result, the Van Allen radiation belts were discovered by the United States rather than Russia.

• 1956 September 3 - Soviet space and ballistic missile tracking network established. - Launch Vehicle: R-7.

  Decree 1241-632 '0n creation or the Command Measurement Complex' was issued. The decree marked the beginning of development of the KIK satellite tracking system. This network was put together using a combination of PVO (Air Defence) and ICBM tracking systems. Trajectory information was fed into the KIK Centre for orbital calculations. The Centre was staffed by 680 officers and 151 civilian scientists of the Soviet Army in four sections.

• 1956 September 30 - Sputnik 3 draft project approved. - Launch Vehicle: R-7.

  Decree 'On approval of the draft project for Object D' was issued. The decree gave the go-ahead for Tikhonravov's 1.4 tonne ISZ physics satellite to be launched by the new R-7 ICBM during the International Geophysical Year . The ISZ, a miniature physics laboratory,.was to have been the first artificial satellite of the earth. In the event, it was preceded by Sputniks 1 and 2.

• 1956 September 30 - First official plan for future Soviet spaceflight - Launch Vehicle: Proton 8K82, N1.

  This set forth the following objectives: orbiting of satellites of 1.8 to 2.5 tonnes mass by 1958; one week flight of a manned spacecraft by 1964; unmanned reconnaissance satellite by 1970; rocket capable of 12 tonne escape velocity payload by 1970; rocket with 100 tonne low earth orbit payload to be developed, capable of placing 2 to 3 men on the moon (no date set).

• 1958 April 27 - Sputnik failure - Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: R-7. FAILURE: Launch vehicle disintegrated 88 seconds after liftoff.

• 1958 May 15 - Sputnik 3 - Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Vehicle: R-7. Mass: 1,327 kg (2,925 lb). Perigee: 217 km (134 mi). Apogee: 1,864 km (1,158 mi). Inclination: 65.20 deg. Period: 106.00 min.

  Variety of scientific data. Research in the upper atmosphere and outer space

• JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. Accessed at: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html.

• Krebs, Gunter, Gunter's Space Page, University of Frankfurt, 1996. Accessed at: http://www.skyrocket.de/space.

• Varfolomyev, Timothy, Spaceflight, "Soviet Rocketry that Conquered Space - Part 1", 1995, Volume 37, page 260. 1: Sp 95/37-260; Sp 96/38-31 (8K71 launches); 2: Sp 96/38-48; 3: Sp 96/38-206; Sp 96/38-317 (designatons); 4: Sp 98/40-28; 5:Sp 98/40-85

• Chertok, Boris Yevseyevich, Raketi i lyudi, Mashinostroenie, Moscow, 1994-1999.. ISBN: 5217024976. Russian language autobiography in four volumes of one of Korolev's chief assistants. NASA is in the process of translating the work - the pdf is for the first volume only, up to WW2. Accessed at: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20050010181_2005010059.pdf. -right click to download pdfs! More at amazon.com...

• Melnik, T G, Voenno-Kosmicheskiy Siliy, Nauka, Moscow, 1997.. Two-volume official history of the (now defunct) Russin space forces.

• Siddiqi, Asif A, The Soviet Space Race With Apollo, University Press of Florida, 2003. ISBN: 0813026288. The definitive history of the Soviet manned space program in the 1960's to the early 1970's. Originally published as the the latter part of 'Challenge to Apollo' by NASA in 2000 as NASA SP-2000-4408. More at amazon.com...

• Grimwood, James M., Project Mercury: A Chronology, NASA Special Publication-4001.

• McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page, Harvard University, 1997-present. Jonathan McDowell's complete on-line listing of all objects orbited and over 20,000 rocket launches Accessed at: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.

• USAF Satellite Database, USAF Institute of Technology, 1995. Accessed at: ftp://archive.afit.af.mil/pub/space/.