because of fearmongering over a little Soviet satellite named Sputnik

[GoodTaste]

American politicians responded by pushing hundreds of millions of dollars into quantum information science via the National Quantum Initiative.
It was an eerie bit of déjà vu. About 60 years earlier, the U.S. was similarly spurred to fund another pie-in-the-sky initiative—space exploration—because of fearmongering over a little Soviet satellite named Sputnik.
Source: Scientific American
China Is Pulling Ahead in Global Quantum Race, New Studies Suggest
===================================================
I don't understand why the author didn't use "a small Soviet satellite named Sputnik" rather than "a little Soviet satellite named Sputnik." My reasons are two:
(1) Alliteration: "a small soviet satillite named Sputnik" sounds funnier due to alliteration than "a little Soviet satellite named Sputnik."
(2) Rhetoric consistency: "Small" constitutes a bit contempt than "little", which is often used to describe loveliness (like little boys and littler girls), and is thus consistent with the tone of "fearmongering."

Am I on the right track on the English sense?

 

[emsr2d2]

In my opinion, no. Many of us use "small" and "little" interchangeably, unless one or the other is part of a recognised phrase. There is no set adjective that goes with "Soviet satellite".

 

[Tarheel]

The word "little" works just as well as "small" would have there. (The writer clearly is not interested in alliteration.)

I am not at all sure that "small" indicates contempt more than "little" does.

Do you think the writer is trying to show contempt?

(To the best of my knowledge "pie in the sky" indicates something unachievable, and sending humans to the moon and bringing them back was indeed proven to be achievable.)

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

1. Notice that small and little both alliterate with satellite. (And neither assonates.)

2. If you want funny, most writers agree that little is a funnier word than small. The short i sound (ih) is a "smile vowel": It pushes your cheeks up. That makes it a cute word.

3. Alliteration and assonance are more effective in verse than in prose, where they can quickly become annoying.

4. No writer can do everything in every sentence. This writer just liked the sound of little. I do, too. But it's the writer's choice — and a perfectly good one.

 

[jutfrank]

I think you're vaguely on the right track with your reason 2. The word little carries more of a sense of harmlessness and insignificance.

 

[Tdol]

There was no contempt for the Sputnik satellite. It put the Soviet Union ahead of the US. The US assumed that they would be the world leaders, then the Soviet Union put a satellite in space. They also put the first person in space, so the US was playing catch-up in the early days of space exploration. It was a wake-up call for the US. The satellite just went beep-beep-beep (you can hear it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1), but it was a technological marvel. I have an album of space music from the 1950s and it has a Russian influence rather than an American influence. The US caught up and overtook in the sixties.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I think you're vaguely on the right track with your reason 2. The word little carries more of a sense of harmlessness and insignificance.

Vague is my calling card!