The result of this research was the creation of an early inertial guidance system that would allow the A4 to hit a city-size target at a range of 200 miles. Next designers were forced to create a guidance system for the rocket that would allow it to reach the proper velocity before shutting off the engines. This became a seven-year development process that led to the invention of new fuel nozzles, a prechamber system for mixing oxidizer and propellant, a shorter combustion chamber, and a shorter exhaust nozzle.

The first major issue to be addressed was constructing an engine powerful enough to lift the A4. Accepting that the A3 was a failure, the A4 was postponed while the problems were dealt with using the smaller A5. Intended to be the smaller prototype of the A4 war rocket, the A3’s engine lacked endurance and problems quickly emerged regarding its control systems and aerodynamics. Pressing on, von Braun’s team moved to a larger facility at Peenemunde on the Baltic coast, the same facility that developed the V-1 flying bomb, and launched the first A3 three years later.

V-2 (German: Vergeltungswaffe 2, “Retribution Weapon 2”), technical name Aggregat 4 (A4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile.

Range of v2 rocket