Numerical simulation of laminar flow over two spheres in a side-by-side arrangement is carried out to investigate the effect of the inter-sphere spacing on the flow characteristics. The Reynolds numbers considered are 100, 250, and 300, covering the steady axisymmetric, steady planar-symmetric, and unsteady planar-symmetric flows in the case of a single sphere. Results show that the drag and lift coefficients and wake structures are significantly modified depending on both the Reynolds number and the spacing between the spheres. At Re=100, the flow is steady planar-symmetric irrespective of the spacing, but it shows some variation according to the spacing at Re=250 and 300. That is, the flow maintains planar symmetry of the single-sphere wake at large spacings, while it loses the symmetry at small spacings due to the generation of new asymmetric vortical structures. It is also shown that the drag and lift coefficients generally increase with decreasing inter-sphere spacing because the high pressure region is formed near the gap between the spheres.