Watch on Soap2day. When the calendars showed the 1950s, curiosity and interest in space had reached new heights, and many countries from Europe to Asia, led by the United States and the Soviet Union, had launched space programs and entered into fierce competition to reach beyond the unknowns of the sky. By 1957, the Soviet Union had become the first country to launch a rocket into space with Sputnik, followed by the United States as the second to make history. During these years, high school students and their friends living in Bandırma were inspired by Sputnik to pursue their dreams of space exploration. Despite lacking a space program, government support, or financial resources, they established the "Bandırma Rocket Club" with the aim of launching a rocket into space.