The Vanguard 1A satellite was thrown clear and landed on the ground a short distance away with its transmitters still sending out a beacon signal.

The IGY guaranteed free exchange of information acquired through scientific observation which led to many important discoveries in the future.

As early as July 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced, through his press secretary, that the United States would launch "small, unmanned, Earth-circling satellites as part of the U.S. participation in the I.G.Y.

"[3] On 9 September 1955, the United States Department of Defense (U.S. DoD) wrote a letter to the secretary of the Navy authorizing the mission to proceed.

The fins were removed from the rocket as a way to reduce the drag and instead, the launch motor was mounted in gimbals which allowed it to pivot and direct its thrust for steering.

The Vanguard satellite was thrown clear and landed on the ground a short distance away with its transmitters still sending out a beacon signal.

GE technicians had failed to catch this design flaw during testing and a temporary fix was made by increasing tank pressure.

Eventually, a further modification was made by using ethane gas to increase fuel force and prevent rough start transients.

[6] Newspapers in the United States published prominent headlines and articles describing the failure with plays on the name of the Russian satellite, Sputnik, such as "Flopnik",[8] "Kaputnik",[9] "Oopsnik", "Dudnick" and "Stayputnik".

[10] The failure, reported in international media, was a humiliating loss of prestige for the United States, which had presented itself to the world as the leader in science and technology.