During Kennedy's presidency, there was a desire by both Kennedy and Khrushchev to establish a joint space program between their respective nations, as evidenced by Kennedy's first State of the Union Address and in much of the written correspondence between Kennedy and Khrushchev. This desire turned into reality with the Apollo Soyuz Test Project in 1975.

However, as was demonstrated by Kennedy's "We Choose to Go to the Moon" speech, competition regarding space was maintained. This competition was partially driven by how much the first astronauts were idolized by the countries they represented. It was also made more intense by the tensions leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis.