1944 July 5 - -
 MX-324 rocket fighter prototype first flight. Nation: USA. Spacecraft: MX-324. Crew: Crosby. The MX-324, first U.S. military rocket-powered plane built by Northrop, was flown by test pilot Harry Crosby, at Harper Dry Lake, Calif. References: 17.
1944 July 6 - Launch Vehicle: V-3. -
 V-3 complex at Mimoyecques irreparably damaged by Allied bombers Nation: Germany. Three 5400 kg Tallboy penetrator bpmbs went down the gun shaft openings, reached 30 m, and exploded, killing dozens of workers. Work on the complex stopped at this point. References: 693.
1944 July 24 - Launch Site: Heidelager. Launch Complex: -. Launch Pad: -. Launch Vehicle: V-2. Model: A-4. - Nation: Germany. Agency: Wehrmacht. Apogee: 90 km (55 mi). References: 2.
1944 August 1 - Launch Vehicle: Me-163. - Me-163B first operational use. Nation: Germany. German Me-163B Komet rocket-powered fighters first attacked American bomber formations over Europe. The Me-163 had sweptback wings, Walther liquid-fuel rocket motor, speed of 590 mph, and powered flight duration of 8-10 minutes. References: 17.
1944 August 1 - Launch Site: Heidekraut. Launch Complex: -. Launch Pad: -. Launch Vehicle: V-2. Model: A-4. - Nation: Germany. Agency: Wehrmacht. Apogee: 90 km (55 mi). References: 2.
August 1944 - Launch Vehicle: Saenger. - Saenger antipodal bomber Nation: Germany. Spacecraft: Dynasoar. Eugen Saenger and Irene Bredt issue their final 400-page report on the Saenger antipodal bomber - a rocket boosted skip-glide spaceplane with global range. Only 100 numbered copies are printed, and distributed to German political and scientific leaders. The futuristic scheme would have taken many years to develop and was of only academic interest to the German government. But copies of the report fell into the hands of the Americans and Russians after the war, spawning major development projects in the fifties.
References: 47.
1944 August 8 - Launch Site: Peenemuende. Launch Complex: -. Launch Pad: -. Launch Vehicle: V-2. - Obergruppenfuehrer Kammler of the SS put in charge of the V-2 program. Nation: Germany. Dornberger was relegated to command of the training batteries for the rocket troops. Von Braun spoke to Dornberger, telling him that he must accept the situation and assist Kammler. Following the July 1944 assassination and coup attempt against Hitler, Dornberger had no backing in the leadership for keeping the program in Army hands. Dornberger finally agreed to cooperate - rockets had been his life's work, and he could not bear not to be involved. Dornberger hoped to 'put my words in Kammler's mouth and make them appear to be his'. All Army commanders in the rocket program were dismissed and replaced by SS officers - Kammler was in complete control.
References: 693.
1944 September 3 - Launch Vehicle: EA 1941. -
 EA 1941 program resumes. Nation: France. After the liberation of Paris, Barre is immediately put to work on the EA-1941. All of the hidden materials are returned to Lyons and it is decided to conduct test launches from Toulon.
1944 September 4 - Launch Vehicle: V-2. - First production V-2 delivered. Nation: Germany. 350 missiles were delivered in September, 500 in October, and 600 to 900 per month thereafter. There were many early failures of these production missiles - they had not been built for long-term storage. The solution was to use express trains to take the missiles from the factory to the launch areas and fire them within three days of leaving the production line.
References: 693.
1944 September 6 - Launch Vehicle: V-2. - V-2 in operation. Nation: Germany. Despite the first production deliveries, development of the missile was still not complete. The accuracy was still too poor, and the fusing was still not optimum to maximise damage at the target. Furthermore there was no method of actually determining the performance and effectiveness of missiles fired in combat, since air reconnaissance of Britain was now impossible. The only source of information was reports from agents on the ground. The availability of alcohol fuel was a limiting factor in the firing rate. Underground facilities for alcohol production had been built at Luettich and Wittringen an der Saar. Liquid oxygen was delivered to the firing areas in 48 tonne railroad wagons, then distributed to the firing units in 5 to 8 tonne capacity trucks. Due to boil off and transfer losses, 9 tonnes had to be generated at the factory in order for the 4.96 tonnes required for each rocket to be available at launch. The railroad wagons lost 350 l/day, but a V-2 on hold, awaiting launch, boiled off liquid oxygen at 2 kg/minute. Average daily launch rate from the field in the fall of 1944 was 28-30 missiles against enemy targets, together with 5 to 7 shots for research and engine tests. Kammler was only interested in maximising the number of combat launches per day - he showed no interest in the effectiveness or results of the missile as a weapon. During production, some small modifications were introduced - an increase in propellant feed rate and combustion chamber pressure, elimination of electrical equipment made unnecessary by the use of the integrating accelerometer guidance system, and an increase in propellant capacity. These changes increased the range of the production missiles to 320 km. A few research rockets with larger propellant tanks reached 480 km. The external paint used on the V-2 was protected from burning through use of a graphite coating.
References: 693.
End September 1944 - Launch Vehicle: V-2. - V-2 summary for September Nation: Germany. During September, the first month of the V-2 combat campaign, there were 104 to 120 combat launches, 41 training launches from Heidekraut, and 2 known test launches from Peenemuende. 629 missiles were manufactured at Mittelwerk. See V-2 combat launches for a complete list of known combat launches.
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