Cotton, nylon, rubber, aluminum
Soviet Union, 1950s
Mission: Sputnik 5
Manufacturer: RSC Energia – Largest Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components
Numbered ‘T-1’, ‘1’ and ‘I/X-61’
Dog space suit
Tube for the oxygen supply
Laces to fit the suit to the size of the dog
Dimensions: approx. 28 x 60 x 21 cm
Provenance: Collection Andora, Germany
This was one of the first space suits for dogs to test the effects of low gravity and high-speed launches on living organisms

This is a brown lace-up full body suit with breathing apparatus. The dog space suit can be adjusted to the size of the dog at body and legs with strings. There is a ring in the front for the helmet’s insertion. The tube for the oxygen supply runs along the lower side of the suit. The suit was made by RSC Energia, the largest Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components.



Soviet space dogs played an important role in the preparation of space missions. Long before the first man flew into space our canine companions tested the unknown spheres. In the fifties, Russian scientists developed this type of high pressure suits to test the effects of low gravity and high-speed launches on dogs. In these tests, which seem rather rough today, dogs and, sometimes mice and rats, were strapped into a space capsule and launched 80 km away from the earth returning later with a parachute landing. While Russian scientists preferred dogs to primates for their tests because dogs could sit still for a longer time, Americans used chimpanzees due of their similarity to humans. This dog space suit was used in the training of the dogs Belka and Strelka during the mission Sputnik 5 (1960). The suit has the inventory numbers T-1, 1 and I/X-61, so it can be assumed that the suit has been used. Only a small number of dog suits has survived to this present day.



The dog space suit is in a good condition. The dimensions are approx. 28 x 60 x 21 cm.

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