A2 Credit - © Mark Wade

First flight test rocket in the series that led to the V-2. Two were built, dubbed Max and Moritz. Both were successfully flown.

35 kg of liquid oxygen/75% alcohol propellants were pressure-fed to the combustion chamber for 16 seconds. Pressure at launch was 18 bar, falling to 14 bar at burn-out. Correspondingly, lift-off thrust was 320 kgf, falling to 240 kgf at fuel exhaustion. Combustion chamber pressure was 9.2 bar.

The A2 was stretched to a 4.5:1 length:diameter ratio compared to the A1. The flywheel stabilisation package was moved to the intertank compartment in comparison with the A1.

Manufacturer: Von Braun. Launches: 2. Success Rate: 100.00%. First Launch Date: 1934-12-19. Last Launch Date: 1934-12-20. Launch data is: complete. Apogee: 3.50 km (2.10 mi). Liftoff Thrust: 3.000 kN (674 lbf). Total Mass: 107 kg (235 lb). Core Diameter: 0.31 m (1.03 ft). Total Length: 1.61 m (5.28 ft). Span: 0.31 m (1.03 ft).

1934 December 19 - 11:15 GMT - Launch Vehicle: A2.

• A2 rocket 'Max' successfully launched. Nation: Germany. Apogee: 2.20 km (1.37 mi). Von Braun's German Ordnance group launches A-2 'Max' from the Island of Borkum in the North Sea before the Commander-in-Chief of the German Army. The rocket is at an altitude of 1.7 km at burn-out, and reaches 2.2 km before falling back to impact 800 m from the launch point.References: 17, 394, 693, 730.

• A2 rocket 'Moritz' successfully launched. Nation: Germany. Apogee: 3.50 km (2.10 mi). Von Braun's German Ordnance group launches the second of two A-2 rockets ('Moritz') successfully to a height of 3.5 km on the Island of Borkum in the North Sea. Burnout is at 1.8 km, and the rocket ascends more vertically than the test the previous day, reaching a greater altitude and impacting 500 m from the launch point.References: 0.

• Emme, Eugene M, Aeronautics and Astronautics: An American Chronology of Science and Technology in the Exploration of Space 1915-1960, NASA, 1961. Accessed at: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/timeline.html.

• Michels, Juergen and Przybilski, Olaf, Peenemuende und seine Erben in Ost und West, Bernard & Graefe, Bonn, 1997. ISBN: 3763759603. Marvelous German language book traces the 'technology transfer' from the Peenemuende refugees to the rocketry programs of America, Russia, Germany, and other countries. More at amazon.com...

• Dornberger, Walter, Peenemuende, Moewig, Berlin 1985.. ISBN: 3811843419. German-language account of the development of the V-2 by the Commander of the Peenemuende rocket development centre. More at amazon.com...

• Przybilski, Olaf, Aggregat 2 Home Page, . Przybilski's web page on the recovery of long-secret documents on Von Braun's A2 rocket and the building of a replica dubbed 'Maria' and first displayed in Dresden in December 2004. Accessed at: http://www.aggregat-2.de/.