Russia Launches Earth Satellite
180lb. Sphere Travelling at Height of 560 Miles

    Moscow radio announced last night that Russia yesterday launched an earth satellite. The announcement was made in an English-language broadcast.

    The Tass agency said the satellite was now looping the earth 560 miles up once every 95 minutes. It was a 180lb. sphere, about 23in. in diameter, and it could be observed in the rays of the rising and setting sun with ordinary binoculars. It had been launched from a carrier rocket.

    It was travelling its course on an elliptical trajectory at about 17,000 miles an hour. Its orbit was inclined at an angle of 65deg. to the equatorial plane. Its wireless signals could be received by "a broad range of amateurs."

    The announcement said calculations had shown that because of the tremendous velocity of the satellite, it would burn up on reaching the denser layers of the atmosphere at the end of its existence. Scientific stations at various points in Russia were conducting observations.

    The launching of the satellite was said to be part of the programme of international geophysical research. The first plans to launch earth satellites were announced in July, 1955, by the United States. In July of this year authoritative sources in Washington were quoted as saying that small satellites would be launched in November to test the full satellite project.