what did americans fear the soviets would be able to do if they could launch a satellite
Sputnik crisis
The USSR used ICBM technology to launch Sputnik into space . This essentially gave the Soviets two propaganda victories at once ( sending the satellite into space and proving the distance capabilities of their missiles ) . This proved that the Soviets had rockets capable of sending nuclear weapons from Russia to Western Europe and even North America . This was the most immediate threat that the launch of Sputnik 1 posed . The United States , a land with a history of geographical security from European wars , suddenly seemed vulnerable . 
The USSR used ICBM technology to launch Sputnik into space . This essentially gave the Soviets two propaganda victories at once ( sending the satellite into space and proving the distance capabilities of their missiles ) . This proved that the Soviets had rockets capable of sending nuclear weapons from Russia to Western Europe and even North America . This was the most immediate threat that the launch of Sputnik 1 posed . The United States , a land with a history of geographical security from European wars , suddenly seemed vulnerable .
The United States suddenly seemed vulnerable when the Soviets proved that they had rockets capable of sending nuclear weapons from Russia to Western Europe and even North America .
This proved that the Soviets had rockets capable of sending nuclear weapons from Russia to Western Europe and even North America . The United States , a land with a history of geographical security from European wars , suddenly seemed vulnerable .
The United States suddenly seemed vulnerable when the Soviets launched Sputnik into space and proved that they had rockets capable of sending nuclear weapons from Russia to Western Europe and even North America .
The USSR used ICBM technology to launch Sputnik into space . This proved that the Soviets had rockets capable of sending nuclear weapons from Russia to Western Europe and even North America . The United States , a land with a history of geographical security from European wars , suddenly seemed vulnerable .