The Soviet Union (former) launched the first artificial earth satellite called Sputnik I on October 4, 1957.
It had a diameter of 58 cm and it weighed 83.6 kg. It had an orbital period of 5880 seconds around the earth. It orbited the 11 weeks (officially 3 weeks but then, its battery died and it orbited for 8 weeks before falling back into the earth's atmosphere).
