The first artificial satellite was successfully put into orbit by an inter-continental ballistic missile from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at Tyuratam, Kazakhstan, 275km 170miles east of the Aral Sea and 250km 155miles south of the town of Baikonur, on the night of 4 Oct 1957. It reached an altitude of between 228.5km (perigee or nearest point to Earth) and 946km (apogee or farthest point from Earth) 142miles and 588miles, and a velocity of more than 28,565km/h 17,750mph. This spherical satellite Sputnik 1 (`Fellow Traveller'), officially designated `Satellite 1957 Alpha 2', weighed 83.6kg 184.3lb, with a diameter of 58cm 223/4in. Its lifetime is believed to have been 92 days, ending on 4 Jan 1958. The 29.17m 95ft 8in tall SL-1 launcher was designed under the direction of former Gulag prisoner Dr Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov (1907-66).