Liquid-Fuel Rocket

Robert Goddard, USA, patents 1,102,653 and 1,103,503 of 1914. The liquid rocket that reached space.

Overview

Goddard patented multi-stage and liquid-fuel rocketry in 1914, two years before his solid-work Smithsonian report. His 1926 Auburn launch, 2.5 seconds of gasoline-oxygen flight, was the space age's first step. Mocked by the press, he worked quietly with 214 patents by estate count. The Nazis' V-2 team read him carefully. NASA's Goddard center honors the patents' reach. Every orbital launch descends from those two 1914 filings.