WAC Corporal

RTV-G-1 WAC Corporal Without Attitude Control Corporal

Mission Profile

The WAC Corporal (RTV-G-1) was America's first domestically developed liquid-propellant sounding rocket, designed by Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and built by Douglas Aircraft to conduct high-altitude upper atmosphere research for the U.S. Army. Standing just 6.4 m tall with a 0.3 m diameter and a liftoff mass of 310 kg, it generated 7 kN of thrust from its nitric acid-aniline propellant combination. First flown in October 1945 at White Sands Proving Ground, the WAC Corporal reached altitudes exceeding 70 km and laid the foundation for America's postwar sounding rocket program, directly inspiring the development of the Aerobee series.