US urged to rekindle space race spirit

President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union speech that the US is facing another Sputnik moment. In his address, Mr Obama reminded Americans of a time 50 years ago when the Soviet Union beat the US into space by launching its Sputnik...

President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union speech that the US is facing another Sputnik moment. In his address, Mr Obama reminded Americans of a time 50 years ago when the Soviet Union beat the US into space by launching its Sputnik satellite.

Mr Obama said America did not just roar back and surpass the Soviets but that the US unleashed a wave of innovation that created industries and millions of jobs after boosting spending on research and education.

Saying that now is this gen­eration’s Sputnik moment, Mr Obama called for new investments in education, research and innovation.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.