Newsroom

*Special Edition*

Launch of Sputnik I and Start of the "Space Race":
50th Anniversary (Oct. 4)

Launched by the Soviet Union on Oct. 4, 1957, Sputnik I was the first satellite to be put into orbit. The launch ignited the “Space Race” between the United States and Soviet Union, leading to the United States successfully launching its Explorer I satellite into orbit on Jan. 31, 1958, and culminating in 1969 with its landing of a man on the moon. To mark this anniversary, the Census Bureau has gathered the following facts:

172 million

The estimated U.S. population in 1957. Today, our nation’s population is an estimated 303 million.
<http://www.census.gov/popest/archives/1990s/popclockest.txt>

202.6 million and 114.6 million

The 1957 population of the Soviet Union and Russia, respectively. Russia’s midyear 2007 population was 141.4 million.
<http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/>

534,359

The 2006 population of Brevard County, Fla., home of the Kennedy Space Center. Brevard County communities near the space center include Cape Canaveral (10,363 population in 2006); Cocoa Beach (12,171) and Titusville (44,027).
<http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb07-42.html> and <http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb07-91.html>

23,653

The 1950 census population count for Brevard County. Cape Canaveral was the site of Explorer I’s launch and became home in 1962 of the Launch Operations Center, renamed the Kennedy Space Center the following year. At the time of the 1950 census, Cocoa Beach had a population of 246 and Titusville, 2,604.
<http://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/fl190090.txt> and <http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/decennial/1950.htm>

387,188

Number of employees of the nation’s 1,593 aerospace product and parts manufacturing establishments in 2005.
<http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/county_business_patterns/cb07-78.html>

110,000

Number of aerospace engineers in 2006.
(Source: Upcoming 2008 Statistical Abstract of the United States)

$24.5 billion

The value of goods traded between the United States and Russia in 2006.
<http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/>

Special Editions of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Facts for Features are issued to provide background information for lesser-known observances, anniversaries of historic events and other timely topics in the news.

Editor’s note: The preceding data were collected from a variety of sources and may be subject to sampling variability and other sources of error. Questions or comments should be directed to the Census Bureau’s Public Information Office: telephone: (301) 763-3030; fax: (301) 457-3670; or e-mail: <PIO@census.gov>.