August 1947: The Soviet Union launches the R7, the first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. The Soviet space program was intricately linked with military and defense programs, and much like the United States, initially relied heavily on German rocket scientists who had worked on the V2 program during WWII.
October 4th, 1957: Two months after the launch of the R7, the Soviets launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to be put into orbit. Approximately the size of a beach ball, this successful mission kicked off the Soviet space program, causing fear within the United States that we had fallen behind technologically.
March 1960: First group of Cosmonauts assembles for the first time in Moscow. They were chosen based on their physical health and piloting skills. In response to their selection, two such cosmonauts remark…
Which pilot doesn’t want to go higher, further, and faster than the rest?
March 1961: Valentin Bondarenko, one of the first selected for cosmonaut training, died after receiving fatal burns during a training exercise. The training consisted of enduring complete solitude in an isolation chamber. After removing medical diagnostic equipment, he accidentally dropped an alcohol soaked cotton ball onto a hot plate, causing the room to go up in flames.
April 12th, 1961: Yuri Gagarin launches into space aboard Vostok-1, a repurposed spy satellite launcher, becoming the first human to both enter space and orbit the Earth. He was well respected and chosen to command the mission by his peers. After orbiting the Earth once, he ejected safely from his re-entry capsule and parachuted back to Russian soil.
Early Soviet Space Program 