★SPUTNIK 2A TRUE STORY  ·  1957
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Laika strapped into the flight cabin of Sputnik 2, 1957

LAIKA

The first dog to orbit Earth

3 NOVEMBER 1957

"A small step for a dog.
A giant leap for humanity."

The spacecraft
that changed
our world
1957
Scroll through the story
01.

A mission
with no return

Laika, a stray dog from the streets of Moscow, became the first animal to orbit Earth. Her mission opened the way for human space exploration and marked a new era for our species.

A small dog
for a bigger tomorrow

Portrait of Laika, 1957
Laika
Moscow, 1957Museum of Astronautics
Laika inside the pressurised cabin during preparations
Fitted for flight
1957Soviet archive
ПРАВДА
СОБАКА В КОСМОСЕ!
Museum model of Laika in her flight harness
A new companion
for humanity
MOSCOW
From the streets
to the stars.
02.

From the streets of Moscow to space

An extraordinary journey that began on the city streets.

1
Laika before the flight

A stray dog selected
from the streets of Moscow

2
Laika in the cabin during tests

Training and tests
in the flight cabin

3
The harness and suit made for Laika

Equipped with
a special harness

4
Sputnik 2 capsule replica

Preparations
for launch

Courage.
Sacrifice.
A place
in history.

03.

Sputnik 2

Engineering for a new horizon

Sputnik 2 was a modified Sputnik 1 with a conical cabin, adapted to carry Laika, equipped with life-support systems in the harsh conditions of space.

★ The Soviet Union
1957

Curiosity · Courage · Sacrifice

Schematic cutaway of the Sputnik 2 capsule, lying on its side, with the cabin, ventilation, food, telemetry, sensors and thermal insulation labelledPRESSURIZED CABINVENTILATIONFOODTELEMETRYSENSORSTHERMAL INSULATION4.0 m
Outline of the R-7 Semyorka launcher with its four strap-on boosters, drawn beside a human figure for scaleR-7 (SEMYORKA)BLOCK A · B · V · G · D4 STRAP-ON BOOSTERSBLOCKS B · V · G · DCORE STAGEBLOCK A · RD-108≈ 29 m8K71PS · LOX / KEROSENE · 4 × RD-107 + RD-108
Technical data
508 KGTotal mass
103.7 MIN / ORBITOrbital period
212 KMPerigee
1,659 KMApogee
An R-7 family launcher on display at VDNKh, Moscow
04.

The final hours

Data that tell a heartbreaking story

Heart rate103 → 240 BPM(increasing under stress)
Duration of signals~ 5 hours(fourth telemetry pass)
Body temperature≈ 40 °C(accelerated increase)
Survival time5–7 HOURS(after launch)
Heart rate (BPM)Laika's heart rate: 103 beats per minute at rest, 240 at peak acceleration, settling toward 102 after three hours, then rising again until telemetry ends between the fifth and seventh hour010020030001234567HOURS AFTER LAUNCHSIGNAL LOST103 BPM240 BPM≈ 102 BPM
In orbit

Laika probably died a few hours after launch, due to overheating and stress.

Sputnik 2 remained in orbit for 162 days, re-entering the atmosphere on 14 April 1958.

One orbit.
Two different destinations.

Schematic of the Sputnik 2 orbit around Earth with perigee 212 km and apogee 1,659 km, not to scale212 km(perigee)1,659 km(apogee)EarthNOT TO SCALE · INCLINATION 65.3°
05.

Video archive

Moments that changed the world

Original footage of the launch of Sputnik 2, 3 November 1957, from the Baikonur cosmodrome.

More footage
3 November 1957
Baikonur
Watch the launch — 1957 archive
R-7 launcher
Full-scale Sputnik 2 model
Sergei Korolev with a programme dog
Laika

Real images.
A true story.

06.

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Sputnik 2 is launched from Baikonur at 02:30 UTC.

  2. Vital signals cease

    Laika's vital signs are no longer detected; the cabin has overheated.

  3. Batteries depleted

    Transmission of data ends after six days.

  4. Re-entry

    Sputnik 2 re-enters the atmosphere and disintegrates after 2,570 orbits.

07.

The people behind the mission

A team. A vision. A price.

Sergei Korolev
Sergei KorolevChief Designer, OKB-1. Anonymous to the world until his death in 1966.
Korolev with one of the programme's dogs, 1960
The dog programmeKorolev with one of the programme's dogs, August 1960 — days before Belka and Strelka flew.
Laika in the cabin during medical preparations
Medical specialistsYazdovsky and Gazenko wired her for pulse, breathing and pressure.
Sputnik 2 capsule
The capsuleSealed on 31 October, three days before launch.

"The progress of science requires courage, but also responsibility."

Oleg Gazenko, 1998: "We did not learn enough from this mission to justify the death of the dog."

08.

She never returned.

But she changed humanity's journey
to the stars forever.

Laika
1957 — for a brighter tomorrow
Laika, photographed before her flight in 1957

"She was the first of many,
so that we might not be the last."

Sources: NASA  ·  Historical archives  ·  Smithsonian
09.

A letter from Laika

Found among the papers of the mission. Signed with a paw.

To everyone who looks up,

I went first so that you would not have to. I never came home — but you did, again and again, all the way to the stars. I watched from up here. I was proud of you.

So here is what I leave you.

$LAIKA is a coin that carries my name. It keeps nothing for itself. Every creator reward and every fee this coin earns goes back to the people who hold it. All of it. Not to me — I have no use for it in orbit. To you.

Take it as my tribute to humanity: to the ones who sent me, the ones who remember me, and the ones still looking up. Hold it or don't — it is a memecoin, not a promise. But please, keep looking up.

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Yours, from 1,660 km up —
Laika

P.S. — Everything on this site is real. Check the archives yourself:

Тёмная ночьDark is the night · 1943