CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY so C--t?1ev 1aSv~.a tSCm -S.RIa( mY 1vt rnaal Dr!~'~? d iy t1tm.?d 0LW vm '- ~+ ' ~( i!? . IA'". TW ._--.. _ .. - .J ~+, t to u? an.t b ?o "s.tthgMl Y?t??~ 1?aftftt 7K low. Announcement of the Soviet Satellite DATE DISTR. 28 $ovesber 1957 Soviet Space Program P40. PAGES 2 1 On the evening of k October 1957, there was a reception for the conference delegates at the Soviet Embassy in Washington' Dr. Lloyd Berkner made an a-L-jouncenept saying, "i wish to congratulate our Soviet colleagues on their success in launching the world's first'earth satellite vehicle'.'.. This.sls-f._ -> nau:ceme.t appeared to be the first news the Soviets had regarding the launching, As a mome-.t later a cecber of the Soviet embassy staff .ntered the roam with what nppesred to be yellow sheets from a teletype machine. 2. Source cczmertcd that as the Soviets have been able to launch sa 18k pound ace research. Be in s bilit p y satellite, they have an advanced, adaptable capa feels that the satellite was launched from an ICBM and that the. Soviets have a dafinitc cai,abiltt7 1 this .field. , Aa the ietsare o~Siaistia ab ut it.As life span st=time sate ll#_gs.9s~-col to xeep it going, tt_ a g_ es=1 3. Although the Soviets state that this satellite has only teipreMmn ~;; ke?'~- devices, It appears that the sate111te could carry esusera equ~ip~eat, ookedtft It ke ,ot.ed that the four cameras described for the s~eteorological rocket looked ot their first the ft y g er military equipment. The Soviets have indicated that a _ 4 satellite orbiting, they Nava a regular program for the Improvement of their. sntell1tes. Ca.-rera-equipped satellites c expected, even if this one is not so equipped. 4. The Soviets at the conference stated formerly that they believe this satellite for carried two radio tranaitters, a heavy load of batteries, ands '~ In the measuring temperature. They indicated that this va3 tht only satellite since the first one was to be as simple as possible. _ 5. on the question of whether data from the satellite as well as data obtained from ground observations will be mmde available to all IGT participants by_ the Soviets, source said, "Yes, if the Soviets keep agreements already made. Be noted that the Soviet anrouncewent contained all agreed-upon scientific data on the orbit czcept for the estimate on the location of apogee and perigct?_-Also,,'r ~- _ ?logo. vow said that he had sent a cable to Moscow for additional inforeation'- which would be made public when available. This remains to be seen, but so far one cazaot criticize the Soviet a ~=?+~is?_~w Approved for Release tSEP 1996 Date 6. The tuleucterigg frequencies of the satellite appear to be as aanouneed by the Soy 1#4*, subject to Doppler shirts, measurements of which in both the northern & d southern hemispheres will give the key to the apogee. on the question of s.--scarf storages sonce stated that temperature measurements way be conveyed to earth simply by the length of keys but be did not rule out other iratrssents end the possibility of special transmitters operating only upon interrogation when iu the vicinity of the USSR. If an additional telemetering transmitter of the storage type is involved, memory circuits say be used. 7. The orbit selected for the satellite is a logical one for this time,of year as it affords the best visibility for observers in the ,*SR. (Note that they used a 65 degree orbit, although Soviet delegates to this conference said it would not be less than 70 degrees.) A 65 degree orbit gives tht,Soviets v laudching gain and they were obviously shooting to ttL the satellite as high as possible for a number of reasons a. So that it would stay up louses) ;l b. To permit less horizontal error on launching) and c. To permit observation for the greatest number of revolutions. ('Tote that a 65 degree orbits presuming 2auaeMing in the neighborhood of 50 degrees, means it was launched in very fj an last.-Vest direction, giving they as such e.d`vaatage of the earth's ro ion as they could get.) Blagonravov and Poloskov were asked bar this was managed. They said they did not knov as they were not close enough to the technical details. It is significant that the Soviets; stated at this`conferenee teat they will launch satellites at regular intervals throughout the I02, preav asbly every mooch or two, and that their techniques and experiments will steadily lamrove. .s~asls~Lr"lear~tLeiL ;t-~sir~~cL~iit ~ _? - - --._. - - :'tza~t3c'.=-7tLt-ot " -'.?.Y a 3t

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ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE SOVIET SATELLITE AND COMMENTS ON THE SATELLITE AND THE SOVI