Why did the united states suffer a loss of confidence following the launch of sputnik i?

This was because it meant that the USSR had won the space race and it knocked the USA's confidence because the USSR was not as technologically advanced as them due to being communist and did not have many computers as the government mainly felt that it would allow the people to rebel against communism more easily. Therefore, the USA felt threatened by the USSR winning the space race because it meant that they could be catching up to their level in technological advances.