When the Cold War started, America was trying to beat the Soviet Union in the Space Race. Before anything was launched, America and the Soviet Union were building ballistic missiles and could launch objects into space. Within 4 days, America and the Soviet Union announced that they would be launching satellites into the earths orbit by 1957 or 1958.
"We believe that when men reach beyond this planet, they should leave their national differences behind them." President John F. Kennedy, president, describing how we can reach farther in space, 1962