For sale: what might be one of the Soviet Sputnik satellites that ushered in the Space Age and sparked a frenzied competition that soon led to the launch of the first man into orbit.

As with so many things Russian, the sale, offered online by Sovietski.com and eBay Inc. for a starting auction price of $25,000, presents a riddle wrapped in a mystery, for no one is able to say how many authentic Sputniks actually exist. The Soviet Union launched the original Sputnik, a shiny metallic orb with four antennas streaking from the side, in 1957, setting off a panic in the United States, which feared it was falling behind its Cold War rival.

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