Tens of years, yes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1 "the Ministry of the Defence Industry and its primary desi

Tens of years, yes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1 "the Ministry of the Defence Industry and its primary design bureau, OKB-1, were assigned the task of building the satellite" "The R-7 rocket was initially designed as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by OKB-1"