Sputnik's Impact On The Military And Politics

Sputnik I Draft 2 On October 5, 1957, readers of The New York Times read the front page headline “Soviet Fires Satellite Into Space”(Jordan 1). The launching of the satellite Sputnik I marked the start of the Space Race, a new age for the global community. It affected the lives of many individuals, as well as relationships between multiple countries. Sputnik I influenced the countries’ public opinions, budget, and politics.

Sputnik had an immense impact on the public’s state of mind. Some of the impact was negative, but there were good things to come out of it too. Americans were incredibly afraid that Russia was going to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles at the United States. Many believed that “windows of vulnerability” would allow

Scientists believed that Sputnik showed that Russia had “perfected their design for [intercontinental ballistic missile]s” (Wissehr et al 371). This meant that the Soviets could launch nuclear missiles at the United States from their own country (Wissehr et al 371). This was a problem for the United States military because they were yet to launch one of their own intercontinental ballistic missiles. The Vanguard model was not working, and the United States seemed to be falling behind (Wissehr et al 371). Although it seemed the United States was falling behind, they had more intercontinental ballistic missiles until the late 60’s. Also, the United States was actually “comfortably ahead in intercontinental ballistic missile development”(DeGroot 38). Scientists knew that being able to get into space would have military implications, but the fact that the Soviet Union put the first satellite into orbit may have actually helped the United States. It was not legal to fly over another country with a plane, but the Soviets had ignored that for satellites. This gave the impression that flying satellites over other countries was completely legal. This new rule would allow the United States government to fly a surveillance satellite over the Soviet Union. Satellites would be a new way to “provide accurate pictures of Soviet military capabilities”(DeGroot 38). This would be cheaper than reconnaissance using planes that were just hard to detect. This plan was generally a secret from American citizens because if the American citizens knew, the Soviet Union would have known and might have been hesitant to launch the first satellite. Sputnik had global political implications other than flying satellites. The prestige the Soviet Union gained from Sputnik helped move ahead in “competition for… Third World” allies (McDougall 22). One fear the United States had was that countries in Asia and Africa would side with the Soviets.