PIX4642528: Artificial satellite Sputnik 1 - Illustration - Artificial satellite Sputnik 1 - Illustration - Artist's view of the Sputnik satellite 1. This satellite was the first artificial satellite on Earth. Put into orbit on October 4, 1957, it rotated around the Earth in 97 minutes. Its only functionality was the broadcast of a “beep-beep” on radio waves / Bridgeman Images