Laika’s body stayed inside Sputnik 2 after she died in orbit, and when the satellite reentered Earth’s atmosphere on April 14, 1958, both the craft and her remains burned up. The most widely reported account is that she died only a few hours after launch from overheating and stress, though the Soviet government obscured that for decades.

What happened

  • Laika was launched on November 3, 1957, aboard Sputnik 2.
  • She was never meant to return, and there was no recovery plan for her body.
  • Her remains stayed with the spacecraft until reentry, when the capsule burned up in the atmosphere.

Why the story is remembered

Laika became a symbol of the early space race, because her mission helped scientists learn about living beings in space, but it also raised lasting ethical concerns about animal testing. The sadness of her story comes from the fact that her body was never recovered and her death was hidden from the public for years.

Quick scoop

The short version: Laika died in orbit, stayed in the satellite, and was destroyed when Sputnik 2 burned up on reentry.