On December 6 1957 the United States made its first attempt to launch a satellite which ended in a fiery explosion on the Cape Canaveral launch pad The Vanguard TV3 rocket was meant to counter Soviet Sputnik successes but it rose only four feet before losing thrust and exploding in a massive fireball The media dubbed it Kaputnik and Flopnik and the failure forced a change in strategy that led to the US Army program launching Explorer 1 on January 31 1958 and marking a turning point in the space