War of the Satellites is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white science fiction film drama, produced and directed by Roger Corman, and starring Richard Devon, Dick Miller and Susan Cabot.

The low-budget feature was rapidly conceived, filmed and released to exploit the international media frenzy around the launch of the Russian Sputnik satellite, the first in space.

[1] In the film, an "unknown force" declares war against Earth when the United Nations disobeys its warnings against assembling and launching the first satellite into space.

U.N. representative Mr. Akad demands that the project, which has yielded limited results, be terminated because of the loss of money and lives.

In response, Mr. Hotchkiss, the United States representative, gives a rousing speech asserting that no other race has the right to thwart mankind's ambitions, and the continuation of the Sigma Project is enthusiastically approved.

The head of Sigma, Dr. Van Ponder, tells reporters he suspects the message is fake, but nevertheless announces his plan to lead the next satellite mission.

Van Ponder reveals to colleagues and mission crew members, astronomer David Boyer and researcher Sybil Carrington, that the capsule has defied all analysis and its origins remain unknown.

After Hotchkiss reluctantly agrees, Van Ponder writes a letter to be read at the U. N. declaring the end of space exploration.

David volunteers to present the letter, but at the council meeting makes an impassioned declaration that the Sigma Project will continue despite the alien intervention.

Meanwhile, while meeting with astronomical engineer John Campo at the lab, Van Ponder fails to notice that his hand is being burned by a torch.

When Sybil enters the control room and finds them, Van Ponder explains that John did not survive the ship's rapid acceleration process.

"[2] Special effects maven Jack Rabin suggested to Roger Corman the idea of making the film, while the topic of space satellites was still hot in the news headlines.

In a 2019 interview, Corman recalled his meeting with Steve Broidy of Allied Artists: "I said, 'Steve, if you can give me $80,000, I will have a picture about satellites ready to go into the theaters in 90 days.'

"[3] Broidy claimed in interviews that when Corman delivered the finished product on time, "he gave him $500.00 to throw a cast party.

She had previously made Sorority Girl, Carnival Rock and The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent for Corman.

[11] In their review of the film at AllMovie, critic Bruce Eder wrote that it "is great fun and the plot moves so fast that one barely has time to ask about some of the silliest aspects of what we see," adding that "[o]ne has to laugh at some of the production values, and marvel at others," and that the movie includes "one of the most ambitious scores ever written by Walter Greene.

"[12] Writing in DVD Talk, film critic Glenn Erickson described the movie as "boil[ing] down to a very small-scale drama played out on a few tiny sets" with "a relatively large number of special effects shots (for a Corman production) that never seem particularly integrated into the story," and that "[t]he movie is held together by the sheer skill of its leading players.