This is all 50s sci-fi tech though. It is only things that people in the 50s would have thought of, and going to space was not one of them. It was always aliens visiting earth. Any events of the 60s, 70s, 80, 90s, and 2000s did not happen in the fallout universe, this includes most of space travel.
To prove my point. JFK was shot in 63. In the Fallout universe, as far as i can tell, this did not happen.
But there has been space flight in the Fallout universe, and during the 60s... This is confirmed in game in the Museum where you get 3 Dogs satellite dish. While the events of anything past the 50s will be different than the version that happened in our universe, the 60s 70s 80s, etc, DID happen in the Fallout universe.
You act like we hadn't thought of space flight in the 50s, which is far from reality. Look at all the science fiction out there, Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers are perfect examples... The science that worked in those comics is exactly the kind of science that became reality in Fallout.... And that was thought of back in the 30s.