This article gives a concise timeline of rocket and missile technology. For the novel by Michael Crichton, see Timeline (novel). ... A Soyuz rocket, at Baikanur launch pad. ... It has been suggested that Guided missile be merged into this article or section. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ...

• 300 CE - Rockets are developed by the Chinese using gunpowder. They were used for religious ceremonies celebrating the ancient Chinese Gods as well as for entertainment(i.e. fireworks).
• 11th century CE - Rockets and fireworks evolve into use for weaponry in China.
• 1650 - Artis Magnae Artilleriae pars prima ("Great Art of Artillery, the First Part") is printed in Amsterdam, about a year before the death of its author, Kazimierz Siemienowicz.
• 1798 - Tipu Sultan, the of the city-state of Mysore in India, uses the first iron rockets against the British Army and wins the first war.
• 1803 - The British Army develops the Congreve rocket based on weapons used against them in India and introduces military rocketry to Europe.
• 1903 - Konstantin Tsiolkovsky begins a series of papers discussing the use of rocketry to reach outer space, space suits, and colonization of the solar system. Two key points discussed in his works are liquid fuels and staging.
• 1926 - Robert Goddard launches the first liquid fuel rocket.
• 1942 - Wernher von Braun and Walter Dornberger launch the first V2 rocket at Peenemünde in northern Germany.
• 1942 - A V2 rocket becomes the first man-made object in space.
• 1949 - Willy Ley publishes The Conquest of Space
• 1952 - Wernher von Braun discusses the technical details of a manned exploration of Mars in The Mars Project.
• 1953 - Colliers Magazine publishes a series of articles on man's future in space, igniting the interest of people around the world. The series includes numerous articles by Ley and von Braun, illustrated by Chesley Bonestell.
• 1957 - Launch of the first ICBM, the USSR's R-7 (8K71), known to NATO as the SS-6 Sapwood.
• 1957 - The USSR launches Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite.
• 1958 - The U.S. launches Explorer I, the first American artificial satellite, on a Jupiter-C rocket.
• 1958 - US launches their first ICBM, the Atlas-B (the Atlas-A was a test article only).
• 1961 - the USSR launches Vostok 1, Yuri Gagarin reached a height of 327 km above Earth and was the first man to orbit earth.
  • - US, a Mercury capsule named Freedom 7 with Alan B. Shepard, spacecraft was launched by a Redstone rocket on a ballistic trajectory suborbital flight.
• 1962 - The US launches Mercury MA-6 (Friendship 7) on an Atlas D booster, John Glenn finally puts America in orbit.
• 1963 - The USSR launches Vostok 6, Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman (and first civilian) to orbit earth. She remained in space for nearly three days and orbited the earth 48 times.
• 1966 - Luna 9, the first soft landing on the Moon
• 1969 - US Apollo 11, first men on the Moon, first lunar surface extravehicular activity.
• 1981 - US space shuttle pioneers reusability and glide landings
• 1998 - US Deep Space 1 is first deep space mission to use an ion thruster for propulsion
• 2004 - US SpaceShipOne pioneers commercial reusability, carried launch and glide landings

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Blackpowder. ... It has been suggested that Firework be merged into this article or section. ... Year 1650 (MDCL) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... 20th century artistic vision of Kazimierz Siemenowicz Kazimierz Siemienowicz (Belarusian: Казімер Семяновіч, Kazimir Siemianovič, Lithuanian: Kazimieras Simonavičius) (born c. ... Year 1798 (MDCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... Portrait of Tippu Sultan, 1792 Tippu (Tips) Sultan (full name Sultan Fateh Ali Tippu), also known as the Tiger of Mysore (November 20, 1750, Devanahalli – May 4, 1799, Srirangapattana), was the first son of Haidar Ali by his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-nissa. ... , For other uses, see Mysore (disambiguation). ... General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Standard atomic weight 55. ... 1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Congreve rocket from Congreves original work The Congreve Rocket was a British weapon designed by William Congreve in 1804. ... 1900 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (Константин Эдуардович Циолковский, Konstanty CioÅ‚kowski) (September 5, 1857 new style – September 19, 1935) was a Russian and Soviet rocket scientist and pioneer of cosmonautics who spent most of his life in a log house on the outskirts of the Russian town of Kaluga. ... A Soyuz rocket, at Baikanur launch pad. ... Apollo 15 space suit A spacesuit is a complex system of garments, equipment, and environmental systems designed to keep a person alive and comfortable in the harsh environment of outer space. ... Major features of the Solar System (not to scale; from left to right): Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, the asteroid belt, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth and its Moon, and Mars. ... Liquid fuels are those combustible or energy-generating molecules which can be harnessed to create mechanical energy, which in turn usually produces kinetic energy, and which also must take the shape of their container. ... The word staging can mean more than one thing: Staging (rocketry) Staging (pathology) Staging (theatre) Staging (stagecoaches) Staging area (military) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Robert Goddard Robert Hutchings Goddard (October 5, 1882 – August 10, 1945) was one of the pioneers of modern rocketry. ... 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... Wernher von Braun stands at his desk in the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama in May 1964, with models of rockets developed and in progress. ... Major-General Dr Walter Robert Dornberger (September 6, 1895 - June 27, 1980) was a German army officer whose career spanned World Wars I and II. During the 1930s and 40s, he directed Germanys rocket and missile programmes, which culminated in the V-2. ... German test launch. ... Peenemündes position in Germany Peenemünde is a village in the northeast of the German island of Usedom. ... 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... Willy Ley (October 2, 1906 - June 24, 1969) was a science writer and space advocate who helped popularise rocketry and spaceflight in Germany and the United States in the early-mid twentieth century. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the solar system, named after the Roman god of war (the counterpart of the Greek Ares), on account of its blood red color as viewed in the night sky. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... A Minuteman III missile soars after a test launch. ... R-7 with Sputnik 2 The R-7 (Semyorka) was the worlds first ICBM and was deployed by the Soviet Union. ... NATO 2002 Summit in Prague. ... Sputnik 1 was the first artificial satellite to be launched into orbit, on October 4, 1957. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Explorer-I, officially Satellite 1958 Alpha (and sometimes referred to as Explorer 1), was the first Earth satellite of the United States, having been launched at 10:48pm EST on January 31 (03:48 on 1 February in GMT), 1958, as part of the United States program for the International... The Jupiter-C Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) was designed by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) The vehicle consists of a modified Redstone ballistic missile with three solid-propellant upper stages. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Atlas missile launch from Cape Canaveral in 1957 The Atlas is a venerable line of space launch vehicles originally built by the Convair Division of General Dynamics, and now Lockheed Martin. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Vostok 1 was the first manned space mission. ... Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (Russian: , Jurij Aleksejevič Gagarin IPA: ; 9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968), Hero of the Soviet Union, was a Soviet cosmonaut who on 12 April 1961 became the first human in space and the first human to orbit the Earth. ... Description Role: Orbital spaceflight Crew: one, pilot Dimensions Height: 11. ... // Crew Alan Shepard (flew on Mercury 3 & Apollo 14) Backup Crew John Glenn Mission parameters Mass: 1,295 kg (apogee) Maximum Altitude: 187. ... Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. ... First launched in 1953, the American Redstone rocket was a direct descendant of the German V-2. ... A sub-orbital spaceflight (or sub-orbital flight) is a spaceflight that does not involve putting a vehicle into orbit. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Crew John Glenn Backup Crew M. Scott Carpenter Mission Parameters Mass: 1,352 kg Perigee: 159 km Apogee: 265 km Inclination: 32. ... The Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7, carrying astronaut John Glenn, was launched on an Atlas rocket. ... For other persons named John Glenn, see John Glenn (disambiguation). ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... A joint flight with Vostok 5, Vostok 6 carried the first woman into space, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova. ... 1963 USSR postage stamp depicting Valentina Tereshkova Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (Russian: ; born March 6, 1937), is a retired Soviet cosmonaut and was the first woman to fly in space, aboard Vostok 6 on the 16th of June 1963. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... Luna 9 (E-6 series), also known as Lunik 9 (internal name E-6 N. 13), was an unmanned space mission of the Soviet Unions Luna program. ... Apparent magnitude: up to -12. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... The Apollo 11 mission was the first mission to land on the Moon. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... For the current Space Shuttle mission, see STS-117 NASAs Space Shuttle, officially called Space Transportation System (STS), is the United States governments current manned launch vehicle. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... The spacecraft Deep Space 1 was launched October 24, 1998 on top of a Delta II rocket. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... SpaceShipOne is small, having a three-person cabin and short but wide wings. ...

See also

• List of missiles
• List of rockets
• Timeline of first orbital launches by nationality
• Timeline of artificial satellites and space probes
• Timeline of planetary exploration
• Timeline of heat engine technology
• Chronology of Pakistan's rocket tests