Was sputnik the launch of the Space Race
Sputnik 41 (, ) , also known as Sputnik Jr 2 and Radio Sputnik 18 ( RS-18 ) , was a Franco-Russian amateur radio satellite which was launched in 1998 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Aéro - Club de France , and the forty - first anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1 , the world 's first artificial satellite .