During the Cold War, the competition for outer space dominance between the US and the Soviet Union was known as the Space Race.
After several announces, on October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union succeeded in launching the first satellite named Sputnik 1, which was also called “fellow traveller”, as translated in English. This Soviet success represented a serious matter of concern for the US government. As a reaction to the Soviet successful exploration of space, President Eisenhower ordered to launch much sooner than planned America’s satellite, on December 6, 1957. This launching was a complete failure, the satellite exploded some seconds after its launching. Later, on January 31, 1958, the United States succeed in launching its first satellite and as a result, Eisenhower recommended to the US Congress that a civilian agency should be in charge of the spaceflight projects. Finally, on July 29, 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created.
