Launched on March 17, 1958, Vanguard 1 has been in orbit for over 67 years. If it was not the first artificial satellite to reach space, it is indeed the only one to be there today. As a comparison, Sputnik 1 returned to the atmosphere only three months after its launch in October 1957, while exposing 1, launched a little before Vanguard 1 in January 1958, disintegrated in 1970.