The Soviet space dog who became a pioneer of orbital flight

History · Published 8 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1957, a stray Moscow pup named Laika became the first living creature to orbit the Earth. Launched aboard Sputnik 2, her mission was a one-way trip designed to test the feasibility of life in space, setting the stage for the human spaceflight era.

The mission was born from intense geopolitical pressure during the Space Race. Following the successful launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev requested a mission to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution on November 7, 1957. This haste meant engineers often worked without blueprints, building Sputnik 2 hurriedly to capitalize on the propaganda value of being first in orbit. This urgency was driven by the desire to demonstrate technological superiority. Consequently, the spacecraft's payload weighed 1,120 pounds, which was six times heavier than its predecessor.

Laika, a husky-spitz mix, was chosen from a herd of female strays because they were smaller and more docile. The mission was inherently dangerous; the spacecraft was not designed for recovery. Engineers estimated that Laika would survive for about seven days with a seven-day oxygen supply, likely dying from oxygen deprivation within 15 seconds of the supply running out. The Soviet team selected these females because they were considered more passive. Engineers initially expected the dog to survive for a week before oxygen ran out.

However, the reality of the flight was likely much shorter. Due to inadequate development time, the environmental control systems were not designed for a long mission. Laika likely perished within hours of entering orbit. Sputnik 2 eventually burned up upon reentry on April 14, 1958, but the mission's impact was lasting, galvanizing the United States to organize its own space program. The satellite's batteries eventually failed on November 10. This caused all scientific data transmission to cease shortly thereafter.

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