On this day in 1957, the first artificial Earth satellite was successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Today, the Space Forces are part of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation and perform tasks as part of military units at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, the 15th Special Forces Army of the Aerospace Forces, the Main Test Space Center named after Titov, the Main Center for Missile Attack Warning and the Main Space Intelligence Center.
Military and civilian personnel of the staff monitor objects in space and identify threats to Russia in space and from space, provide the leadership with information on the detection of ballistic missile launches and missile attack warnings, launch spacecraft, manage military and civilian satellite systems.