Saw the name Furnas in the OSI doc that Q linked and decided to do some digging. Found him mentioned in an article in Studies in Intelligence that evaluated how our IC handled the whole Sputnik affair.
Reading between the lines a bit, what I gather from the article (not a full reading):
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Initially POTUS wanted earth satellite program to be separate from the military.
(Q drop shows when that plan was changed and program assigned to DOD)
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Soviets wanted to work together with US to launch satellite program
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We knew all about sputnik and when it would be ready
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When sputnik launched, public and media was shocked, because it implied USSR would get ballistic nukes first
Rough analysis: US was uncomfortable partnering with USSR, so they slow walked their side of the joint program until the soviets just launched it themselves. This was done to make the public scared of the soviet "threat" and ensure that "we" could build own own space warfare / missile program instead of peacefully working with USSR.
https:// www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol-61-no-3/pdfs/studies-in-intelligence-61-3-Sep-2017.pdf