Sputnik moment

Meaning

Noun

• The moment when a country or a society realizes that it needs to catch up with apparent technological and scientific developments made by some other country or countries by increasing its investment into education, innovative research and development, etc.

Related

Similar words

• wake-up call

Origin

• A reference to the Soviet Union’s 1957 launch of the first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite Sputnik 1 which caught the USA unprepared. The event ignited the Space Race during the Cold War, and led to the USA successfully completing a human landing on the Moon in 1969.