BelKA later, the Dnepr rocket suffered an engine failure and crashed, destroying the satellites. The name BelKA is thought to be an allusion to the dog, Belka, who, together with Strelka orbited the Earth and returned safely on Sputnik 5 in 1960. BelKA BelKA (an acronym from Belarusian: Беларускі Касмічны Апарат, Belarusian Cosmic Apparatus) was intended to be the first satellite of independent Belarus. It was a remote sensing satellite that utilizes the Victoria universal satellite bus, developed by Belarusian researchers and Russian Rocket and Space Corporation RSC Energia for National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus as the
Korabl-Sputnik 2 20 August, the day after its launch. Telemetry revealed that one dog had suffered seizures during the fourth orbit, and it was decided to limit the first manned flight to three orbits. All of the animals were recovered safely, and a year later Strelka had a litter of puppies, one of which was sent to First Lady of the US Jacqueline Kennedy as a goodwill present from the Soviet Union. President Kennedy's advisers initially opposed taking the dog for fear that the Soviets might have planted microphones in its body to listen in on national defense meetings. Strelka and Belka