What event marked the beginning of the Space Age?
The Space Age began on the 4th of October 1957, with the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite. The 83.6-kilogram spacecraft orbited Earth once every 98 minutes.
Questions about Space Age
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Why is orbital spaceflight the accepted start of the Space Age rather than the V-2 rocket?
Some commentators argue that a rocket capable of reaching orbit could also deliver a nuclear warhead to any point on Earth, making orbital flight a meaningful military and scientific threshold. The German V-2 of June 1944 reached space briefly but did not achieve orbit, and is not considered the Space Age's starting point.
How large was the NASA Apollo program during the Space Age?
From 1961 to 1964, NASA's budget grew by nearly 500 percent to support the lunar landing effort. The Apollo program eventually drew on approximately 34,000 NASA employees and 375,000 workers at industrial and university contractors.
Which company was first to launch humans into orbit in the new Space Age?
SpaceX made the first private crewed orbital spaceflight with its Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission in 2020. The company was founded by Elon Musk, who has stated a goal of establishing a Mars colony of one million people by 2050.
What cultural movements did the Space Age inspire?
The Space Age influenced Googie architecture, Space Age fashions by designers including André Courrèges and Pierre Cardin, furniture by Eero Saarinen and Arne Jacobsen, and music genres including space age pop and space rock. Automotive design was also reshaped through Virgil Exner's Forward Look, which ran from 1957 to 1961.
What record did the Artemis II crew set in the Space Age?
The Artemis II crew, who launched on the 1st of April 2026, set a new record for the farthest distance any human has traveled from Earth. They surpassed the previous mark set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970.