White Sands Missile Range

White Sands Proving Ground, as it was first called, became the home of America’s first large-scale rocket and missile launch facilities. Established in 1945, it launched 67 V-2 rockets and many other vehicles, helping propel the United States into the Space Age. Scientists and military researchers there learned to handle large rockets and improved the emerging technology. Vital experiments there investigated the nature of the upper atmosphere and the fringes of outer space. Tests there also included the first air defense missile system, the Nike Ajax, and the first U.S. ballistic missile, the Corporal.

White Sands, New Mexico · United States