Rocket number |
Time |
Launch site |
Pad |
Maximum altitude (kilometres) |
Remarks |
1946 |
1 |
15 March 1946 |
White Sands |
|
n/a |
Static test firing of V-2 Engine |
2 |
16 April 1946 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
5.5 |
Radio cut-off 19.5 s after launch, Fin 4 failed prior to cut off |
3 |
10 May 1946 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
112.6 |
Nominal flight |
4 |
29 May 1946 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
112.1 |
Nominal flight |
5 |
13 June 1946 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
117.4 |
Nominal flight |
6 |
28 June 1946 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
107.8 |
Nose separation failure |
7 |
9 July 1946 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
134.4 |
Nominal performance |
8 |
19 July 1946 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
4.824 |
Oxygen pump exploded |
9 |
30 July 1946 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
161.5 |
Nominal performance |
10 |
15 August 1946 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
6.4 |
Radio cut-off 16.5 s after launch |
11 |
22 August 1946 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
0 |
Control failure led to cut-off command at 6.5s |
12 |
10 October 1946 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
173.8 |
Nominal performance |
13 |
24 October 1946 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
104.6 |
Sub-normal propulsion performance |
14 |
7 November 1946 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
0.32 |
Guidance failure preceded emergency cut-off at 31s |
15 |
21 November 1946 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
101.4 |
Sub-normal propulsion performance |
16 |
5 December 1946 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
152.9 |
Control system failed at altitude |
17 |
17 December 1946 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
183.4 |
Rocket exploded at 440s. |
1947 |
18 |
10 January 1947 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
116.2 |
Degraded performance led to roll rate of 60 rpm. |
19 |
23 January 1947 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
49.9 |
Degraded performance led to roll rate of 80 rpm. |
20 |
20 February 1947 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
109.4 |
Blossom 1 - Propulsion degraded at 55.5s. |
21 |
7 March 1947 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
162.5 |
Nominal performance |
22 |
1 April 1947 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
129.2 |
Nominal performance |
23 |
8 April 1947 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
102.2 |
Nominal performance |
24 |
17 April 1947 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
142.4 |
Successful test of ram-jet payload |
26 |
15 May 1947 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
135.2 |
Internal explosion at 64.3s. |
H-II # 0 |
29 May 1947 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
79.3 |
Hermes II prototype with dummy Organ ramjet test. Lost control after 4s and crashed outside range near Juarez, Mexico. |
29 |
10 July 1947 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
16.25 |
Early yaw led to termination at 32s. |
30 |
29 July 1947 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
160.7 |
Near vertical trajectory. |
28 |
6 September 1947 |
USS Midway |
|
1.5 |
Operation Sandy. Aircraft carrier launch successful. Exploded at 1524 m |
27 |
9 October 1947 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
156.1 |
Internal explosion at 83.5s |
GE-Sp |
20 November 1947 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
26.7 |
GE technology proving flight |
28 |
8 December 1947 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
104,6 |
Stable flight but less than planned altitude |
1948 |
34 |
22 January 1948 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
159.3 |
Payload separation failure |
36 |
6 February 1948 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
111 |
Successfully manoeuvred by ground control for first 40s of fligh |
39 |
19 March 1948 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
5.5 |
Low altitude flight prevented any data recovery |
25 |
2 April 1948 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
144 |
Three previous launch attempts failed in year prior. Excellent performance |
38 |
19 April 1948 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
56 |
Faulty steering led to high roll rate and then flight termination |
Bumper-1 |
13 May 1948 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
127.3 |
Bumper 1 Premature cut-off of WAC 2nd stage |
35 |
27 May 1948 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
139.7 |
Steady flight with low roll rate |
37 |
11 June 1948 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
62.3 |
Blossom 2 - Cut-off at 57.7s; payload separation at 96s |
40 |
26 July 1948 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
86.9 |
Turbine overspeed led to premature propellad cut-off at 61s. 2rpm roll began at 70s |
43 |
5 August 1948 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
165.7 |
Nominal performance |
Bumper-2 |
19 August 1948 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
13.4 |
Bumper 2 First stage failed due to propellant flow interruption |
33 |
2 September 1948 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
150.6 |
Vehicle broke-up at 370s at 84 km altitude. |
Bumper-3 |
30 September 1948 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
150.3 |
Bumper 3 WAC stage failed |
Bumper-4 |
1 November 1948 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
4.8 |
Bumper 4 Explosion in tail of V-2 |
44 |
18 November 1948 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
145.3 |
First Hermes B 'Organ' test of ramjet diffuser in place of payload section. Nominal performance. |
42 |
9 December 1948 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
108.4 |
Vane failure at 22s caused erratic flight |
1949 |
H-II # 1 |
13 January 1949 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
|
1st Hermes II test |
45 |
28 January 1949 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
59.9 |
Defective performance |
48 |
17 February 1949 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
100.6 |
Nominal performance |
Bumper-5 |
24 February 1949 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
129 |
Successful flight. Separation of stages at 32.2 km |
41 |
21 March 1949 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
133.5 |
Blossom 3 - Parachute not ejected |
50 |
11 April 1949 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
87.2 |
Degraded performance from 43s |
Bumper-6 |
21 April 1949 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
49.9 |
Premature V-2 cut-off; WAC stage failed to fire |
46 |
5 May 1949 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
8.85 |
Second Hermes II 'Organ' test of ramjet diffuser in place of payload section |
47 |
14 June 1949 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
133.5 |
Blossom 4 - Nominal performance. |
32 |
16 September 1949 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
4.2 |
Blossom 5 - payload. Explosions led to early termination |
49 |
29 September 1949 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
150.8 |
Nominal performance. |
H-II # 2 |
6 October 1949 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
|
2nd Hermes II test. |
56 |
18 November 1949 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
123.9 |
Nominal performance. |
31 |
8 December 1949 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
130.3 |
Blossom 6 - Excellent performance |
1950 |
53 |
17 February 1950 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
148.7 |
Nominal performance. |
Bumper-8 |
24 July 1950 |
Cape Canaveral |
LC 3 |
16.1 |
Low-angle atmospheric flight over 320 km range |
Bumper-7 |
29 July 1950 |
Cape Canaveral |
LC 3 |
16.1 |
Low-angle atmospheric flight over 320 km range |
51 |
31 August 1950 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
136.4 |
Blossom 7- Nominal performance. |
61 |
26 October 1950 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
8 |
Explosion at 50s at Mach 3 terminated flight |
H-II # 3 |
11 November 1950 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
|
3rd and Final Hermes II test |
1951 |
54 |
18 January 1951 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
1.6 |
Stalled on pad for 13s then rose slowly for 38s before exploding |
57 |
8 March 1951 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
3.1 |
Blossom 8 - Three explosions at 15.5; 18.5 and 19.5s destroying til section |
55 |
14 June 1951 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
0 |
Exploded on pad at start of main-stage thrust after rising 6-inches |
52 |
28 June 1951 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
5.8 |
Blossom 9 - Tail explosion at 8s and then cut-off signal given at 22s. |
TF-1 |
22 August 1951 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
213.4 |
Army training test (last 5 launches by "Broomstick Scientists")[16][17] |
60 |
29 October 1951 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
140.9 |
Army training test. Payload released but damaged on impact. |
1952 |
59 |
20 May 1952 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
103.5 |
Army training test. * Also designated TF-2 |
TF-3 |
22 August 1952 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
78 |
Army training test. Thrust decreased after 53s. Tail separation at 217s. |
TF-5 |
19 September 1952 |
White Sands |
Pad 33 |
27 |
Army training test. Tail explosion at 27s terminating thrust. |