Sputnik-1 EMC/EMI lab model

The Sputnik 1 EMC/EMI was a special model made to test how well the real Sputnik 1 satellite could work. These models were built in a lab to check if the satellite’s parts could talk to each other without problems. They were made by two groups in the Soviet Union, called OKB-1 and NII-885, led by Mikhail Ryazansky.

These models were very important because they helped scientists make sure the real Sputnik 1 would work well in space. The tests checked if the satellite’s electronics would work together. The first of these special models was ready for testing on February 15, 1957, before the real Sputnik 1 was launched.

Sputnik 1 EMC/EMI Lab Model Number 001

The first testing model of the Sputnik 1 satellite, called Lab model 001, was made on February 15, 1957. It is now kept in the Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin in Germany. This model came from a Russian institute named NII-885. In 2007, to mark 50 years since the launch of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, this test model was displayed to the public at the museum.

Sputnik 1 EMC/EMI Lab Models Number 002 and 003

Two test models of the Sputnik 1 satellite, numbered 002 and 003, were made in 1957 by OKB-1 and NII-885, led by Dr. Mikhail Ryazansky.

In 2016, model number 003 was sold at Bonhams in New York for US$269,000. This model had a working transmitter and four antennas. It was the only known working test model of Sputnik 1 at that time. Both models 002 and 003 are now in private collections and were also sold by Bonhams in New York.

Two View Mockups Sputnik 1

Besides the lab models used for testing, there are two special models called "mockups." These mockups do not have any working radio or electronic parts.

Out of the four known models of this type, two are owned by private people. One is kept at the Energia Corporate Museum near Moscow, and another, without its inner parts, is shown at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington, US.