What do UN peacekeeping forces do? intervene in active military engagements
intervene before a conflict starts
intervene after a peace agreement has been reached
intervene in civilian disputes, not military disputes

After the success of the sputnik launch, the united states feared that they would never be able to launch their own satellite, the ussr had used technology developed by the united states, the soviets had superior nuclear capabilities, that any future us satellites would not be as successful.