The USA was frightened that the Soviets might have the technology of long range missiles and attack them with them. Also, they were concerned about the long range telecommunications capacity of Soviets.
Explanation:
The launch of Sputnik 1, the first ever man-made artificial satellite official started the Space Race and heated the Cold War between USA and Soviet Union.
Afterwords, USA would form NASA and send their first artificial satellite, Explorer to the orbit.
