About the book: 1958 / The book, written on the basis of domestic and foreign sources, tells about the creation and launch in the USSR of the world's first artificial Earth satellites (AES ), about the theoretical issues that needed to be resolved in this case. It consistently sets out the stages of space exploration, starting with the implementation of an uninhabited and non-automated artificial Earth satellite and ending with a presentation of the issues of creating interplanetary stations and spacecraft. The book is intended for soldiers of the Soviet Army, Aviation and Navy, therefore it pays attention to the description of the military significance of satellites and interplanetary stations. In general, the author tried not to overload the book with technical details and presented the material in the most popular and accessible form for the general reader.