The space race was an episode during the Cold War era that saw the Soviet Union and the United States enter into competition om different stages, such as political, military, and scientific. This period of time started on August 2nd, 1955 with the announcement of the space exploration by the Soviet Union following a similar announcement from the United States 4 days earlier. It ended on April 1972, with the agreement of the cooperation of both countries space agencies with the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.
The race had a military background, as both countries believed that they could get a significant advantage over the other if they were to conquer space first.