completed at the end of 1933. It was only 5 feet long and powered by an alcohol and liquid oxygen motor. General Walter Dornberger recognized that the main fallacy of the A1 was its lack of stability and control, and this led to the development of the A2 rocket. The only difference between it and the original A1 was the A2’s crude gyroscopic stabilizing device. By December 1934 two A2s were read were ready for launch and both were successfully tested at an artillery range at Kummersdorf. In 1936 Dornberger demonstrated the rocket technology to a party of Army leaders, including the Commander-in-Chief, General Werner von Fritsch. After an impressive demonstration, it was decided that further investment in the rocket program was warranted. Subsequently, an area on the Baltic coast named Peenemunde was set up as a development and testing site for future rockets. The next rocket to be built was the A3. This was a much larger 25 feet long and used 3,500lb thrust oxygen and alcohol fueled motor. By the winter of 1937-38 when the A3 was ready for launch, there was some urgency on the part of Dornberger to get the A3 off the ground, as Hitler’s rearmament of Germany was gathering speed and Dornberger didn’t want his rockets to be left out of the weapons race. Four A3s were launched from Peenemunde in a test, but all four were failures and the embarrassing decision to scrap the remaining A3s was made. Work was then started on an A4 (V2) and A5. The A4, also more commonly referred as the V2, and the A5 were in development simultaneously from 1939-41. A fuel pump was designed in 1941 for the V2, which was needed for the 7.5 tons of fuel per minute it used. The V2 remained in a stage of development until 1943 when production was dramatically stepped up due to worsening military situations. With the German military situation beginning to deteriorate, it was slowly becoming more clear that Germany might need a so-ca...
