Mageburger Startgerät Pilotenrakete 10-L

The Magdeburger Startgerät (also known as the Magdeburg pilot rocket and 10-L for the 10 liters of

liquid A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a (nearly) constant volume independent of pressure. As such, it is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, gas, an ...

fuel it contains) is a missile that was intended to ensure the first manned

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entire ...

flight in history. Despite successful tests, the pilot flight originally planned for March 1933 never took place. After several delays, the project was finally stopped in 1934 when the

National Socialists Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Naz ...

prohibited all private missile attempts (which also included the

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label= Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Mag ...

experiment).

The idea

The project was initiated in 1932 by Franz Mengering, a businessman from

, a follower of the Hollow Earth concept. Mengering commissioned

Rudolf Nebel Rudolf Nebel (21 March 1894 – 18 September 1978) was a spaceflight advocate active in Germany's amateur rocket group, the ''Verein für Raumschiffahrt'' (VfR – "Spaceflight Society") in the 1930s and in rebuilding German rocketry following Wor ...

to develop a manned rocket in order to reach the moon 5000 kilometersm away. Nebel, on the other hand, thought it was only realistic to develop a

that could carry a person for a distance of 1 kilometer and at a maximum altitude of 20 kilometers.

Development and testing

The development of the rocket began in August 1932 and was carried out by the team around

, consisting of

Klaus Riedel Klaus Riedel (2 August 1907 – 4 August 1944) was a German rocket pioneer. He was involved in many early liquid-fuelled rocket experiments, and eventually worked on the V-2 missile programme at Peenemünde Army Research Center. History Rie ...

Hans Hüter Hans Hermann Hüter (born March 21, 1906, † June 9, 1970 in Huntsville, Alabama) was a Germany, German-Switzerland, Swiss rocket engineer. Being part of the engineering team around Hermann Oberth, Rudolf Nebel and Klaus Riedel (together with We ...

Kurt Heinisch Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and is ...

, Hans Bermüller, Paul Ehmayr and

Helmut Zoike Helmut is a German name. Variants include Hellmut, Helmuth, and Hellmuth. From old German, the first element deriving from either ''heil'' ("healthy") or ''hiltja'' ("battle"), and the second from ''muot'' ("spirit, mind, mood"). Helmut may ref ...

was planned to act as a pilot. Tests on the ground took place until March 1933, and launch tests began in June 1933 - first in Mose, later on Tegeler See and Schwielowsee. The last documented test flight took place in September 1933

Cancellation

The activities of the

Verein für Raumschiffahrt ''Verein'' is a German word, sometimes translated as ''union'', ''club'' or ''association'', and may refer to: * ''Eingetragener Verein'' (e. V.), a registered voluntary association under German law * Swiss Verein, a voluntary association under Sw ...

and at Raketenflugplatz Berlin-Reinickendorf were under strict surveillance from spring 1933, when the

came to power. At the end of 1933 the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one or ...

confiscated all documents, and in June 1934 the organization and the rocket airfield were closed. Private rocket attempts were prohibited, and all activities were continued under the patronage of the

German Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

in the Kummersdorf Army Research Center, and later in the

Peenemünde Army Research Center The Peenemünde Army Research Center (german: Heeresversuchsanstalt Peenemünde, HVP) was founded in 1937 as one of five military proving grounds under the German Army Weapons Office (''Heereswaffenamt''). Several German guided missiles and ...

References

{{reflist Experimental rockets Cancelled projects 1934 disestablishments in Germany 20th-century German aviation Experimental missiles 1932 establishments in Germany Research and development in Nazi Germany