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• sputnik
  sputnik

  noun

  any of a series of Soviet earth-orbiting satellites.
• Sputnik
  Sputnik

  noun

  any of a series of unmanned Soviet satellites, Sputnik 1 (launched in 1957) being the first man-made satellite to orbit the earth

sputnik

American  

[spoot-nik, spuht-, spoot-nyik] / ˈspʊt nɪk, ˈspʌt-, ˈsput nyɪk /

noun

1. (sometimes initial capital letter) any of a series of Soviet earth-orbiting satellites.

   Sputnik I was the world's first space satellite.

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Sputnik British  

/ ˈspʌt-, ˈspʊtnɪk /

noun

1. any of a series of unmanned Soviet satellites, Sputnik 1 (launched in 1957) being the first man-made satellite to orbit the earth

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Etymology

Origin of sputnik

1957; < Russian spútnik satellite, traveling companion, equivalent to s- together, with + put’ way, route + -nik agent suffix ( cf. -nik)

Example Sentences

DeepSeek's low-cost, high-performance R1 chatbot challenged assumptions of US dominance in what some have called the "Sputnik moment" for AI.

From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026

In Brussels, at the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union and the U.S. had dueling pavilions—one touting Sputnik, the other the “American dream”—but the fair’s theme was peaceful uses of atomic energy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 14, 2026

A big lesson since Sputnik launched the Space Age is that we are Earthlings to the core.

From Slate • Dec. 9, 2025

Sputnik did not respond to requests for comment.

From BBC • Aug. 24, 2025

The Explorer and Sputnik programs continued with scientific exploration, although both the United States and the Soviet Union still had the occasional failure.

From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson