Aerobee RTV-N-8

Mission Profile

The Aerobee RTV-N-8 was the original American sounding rocket of the Aerobee family, jointly developed by the Naval Research Laboratory and Aerojet Engineering Corporation as the first purpose-designed high-altitude research rocket produced entirely in the United States. Standing 5.8 m tall with a 0.4 m diameter and a liftoff mass of 728 kg, it generated 12 kN of thrust from its nitric acid-aniline liquid propellant motor. First flown in September 1947 at White Sands Proving Ground, the RTV-N-8 established the Aerobee as the foundation of America's postwar sounding rocket program, launching decades of upper atmosphere, solar, cosmic ray, and early space environment research.