It was exactly 50 years ago, on Oct 4, 1957, that the Soviet Union (Russia) launched the first artificial satellite, called Sputnik, into an orbit in space around Earth. Named “Sputnik 1”, the satellite was about the size of a beach ball, and was the first in a series of satellites known as the Sputnik space program. This launched pronounced the start of the modern space age, and kicked off the space race between the USA and USSR.

Where would media be without satellites today? The quick answer is media would still be stuck in the 1950s, with no instantaneous video satellite feeds, delays on reporting on current events, drastically reduced live programming, no satellite weather reports or predictions, and a much smaller access to world news, to name just a few. The way the whole world communicates is different because of satellites – we are so accustomed to satellite technology and the technology and communication bred by satellite technology that we would have difficulty fitting in to a non-satellite society today.  

Would we have the Internet without the inspiration of satellite technology? Are we already taking for granted how much online business processes and capabilities facilitate and simplify our world, from retail business to media?

Three cheers for the Soviet scientists who helped push this world into the space age, and thus, unpredictably, helped the business world become the fast-moving, global machine it is today.

Watch this National Geographic video of the Sputnik anniversary celebrated.