Sputnik 1 fueled the fire between the U.S and the Soviets.
“Sputnik is largely considered to be the “starting point” of the Space Race because of its effect on both countries' national agendas” (Davis).Sputnik successfully launched and at the time (1957) it was the best technology anyone had seen. The U.S. was shocked, and worried the Soviets could use it to attack so they started the space race to see who was better and faster.
The Soviet Union wanted to show their technical superiority over the world.“In July 1955, the White House announced plans to launch an Earth-orbiting satellite for the IGY and solicited proposals from various Government research agencies to undertake development. In September 1955, the Naval Research Laboratory's Vanguard proposal was chosen to represent the U.S. during the IGY.”(Garber) This answers what led the Soviet Union to make the Sputnik to show their technical superiority over nasa and the IGY. IGY means International Geophysical Year which means scientists in 67 countries explore earth and space.