Why people consider 1957 as begin of space flight while first space (suborbital)

[Pawelk198604]

Why people consider 1957 as begin of space flight while first space (suborbital) spaceflight while first took place 1944 in Penumubde?

[Brun]

Sputnik made it to orbit so it was the first orbital flight. Given all the ICBM development throughout the 50's by both the US and USSR, I don't think there has ever been any debate that there were suborbital flights prior to 1957, since ICBMs are by design suborbital.

[Streetwind]

Sputnik made it to orbit so it was the first orbital flight. Given all the ICBM development throughout the 50's by both the US and USSR, I don't think there has ever been any debate that there were suborbital flights prior to 1957, since ICBMs are by design suborbital.

Correct, the first manmade object to ever officially considered to have reached "outer space" was a German test rocket for what was later to become the V2 ballistic missile. It launched on October 3, 1942 and hilariously enough, it actually was a failed test. It only went as high as it did because it flew more steeply than intended.

But while Wernher von Braun's achievement is commendable on that front, and he performed it with the full intent of eventually developing spaceflight (he stated as early as 1930 that he would definitely go to the Moon someday), you need more than quickly peeking into space and then falling back down to really claim to be performing spaceflight. Sputnik-1 showed for the first time not only how to get up there but actually stay up there. It is also directly responsible for triggering the Space Race and all of its remarkable achievements, because the USA were deeply shocked at being beaten to the punch by the Russians. That is why 1957 is regarded as the dawn of spaceflight.

[Agamemnon]

and actually... the harder part of an orbital spaceflight is not to get high enough, but to be fast enough

[Tex]

1957 is generally considered the start because Sputnik was able to achieve actual Earth orbit, something no other craft had done before.

The launch and orbit of Sputnik was the tipping point that began the USA/USSR Space Race, as the American government was not too happy about a communist government beating the US into a stable orbit and receiving data back from a satellite. This event pushed the US to begin the Explorer program, and eventually try to put the first human into space (and unfortunately failed again).

1957 is the year that started it all, so that's why people consider it the beginning