<P> The designers , engineers and technicians who developed the rocket and satellite watched the launch from the range . After the launch they drove to the mobile radio station to listen for signals from the satellite . They waited about 90 minutes to ensure that the satellite had made one orbit and was transmitting , before Korolev called Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev . </P>
who was the leader of the soviet union when sputnik was launched
Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev