The foundations of what is known today as the World Wide Web was lain when Soviet Union's satellite, Sputnik was launched in 1957. The US, not wanting to be superseded by the Soviet Union, set out on its own satellite industry. To facilitate this, the Advanced Research Projects Agency or ARPA was set up. A network was also set up to enable the military and different sections of the government to maintain communications with one another under all circumstances. It was called the ARPANet. Developed by Dr.
J.C.R.Licklider, it ensured that the network had many standby links on top of the default ones and this ensured that, in times of crisis, no department would be cut off from the network. Gradually, renowned universities in the United States joined this network.