This event marks the launch of the Sputnik 24 satellite on October 4, 1962. This satellite was the first of its kind, and was launched by the Soviet Union as part of the Cold War space race. The satellite was designed to measure the Earth's atmosphere and radiation levels, and
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Sputnik 3 was a Soviet satellite launched on 15 May 1958 from Baikonur Cosmodrome by a modified R-7/SS-6 ICBM. The scientific satellite carried a large array of instruments for geophysical research of the upper atmosphere and near space.