Happy 50th Anniversary, Sputnik!
 
 Thursday, Oct. 4, was an important day for ILS and everyone in the space industry, as we marked the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite placed into orbit around Earth.
 

The Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, from what is now known as the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan -- home to all ILS Proton launches. The successful Sputnik mission sent shockwaves throughout the United States, launching the "Space Race" between the two super-powers. Though the United States at the time was close to launching its own satellite, Sputnik was first, earning its place in history.

  
 Sputnik weighed just over 180 pounds. The 22-inch aluminum sphere, scarcely wider in diameter than a modern home satellite dish, orbited the Earth every 96 minutes. The "beep" of its radio beacon sounded a new global era -- technologically, geopolitically and culturally.
  
 The maiden Sputnik mission gave birth to the industry in which ILS thrives today. Who could have predicted that Sputnik's solitary flight around the globe would one day lead to satellites numbering in the thousands now orbiting Earth?
  
 And who could have predicted that the heated rivalry spawned by Sputnik would change to cooperation and partnerships in space, such as the very successful joint venture of U.S.-based ILS and Russian rocket manufacturer Khrunichev?
  
 Sputnik's voyage would last just three months, but its effect is still being felt generations later. The catalog of worldwide achievement in space over the last five decades bears that out. Happy 50th Anniversary, Sputnik!