Origins of Russian rocketry

The roots of rocketry lie so deep in the history of human civilization that it is believed to be impossible to mark the exact birth date of these ancient machines. Apparently, the first rockets owe their origin to the invention of gunpowder in China around the 10th Century AD. The earliest historical records testify that in 1232 AD, during the siege of Beijing (according to another source (102): town of Kai-fung-fu) by the Mongols, the city's defenders fired missiles.

It is believed that around the 13th Century, knowledge of rocketry reached Italy and France.

The use of rockets near the Ukrainian city of Belgorod is recorded in 1516 and the first appearance of rockets in the Russian city of Ustuyg dates from around 1675. (2) Following the development and use of military missiles in Europe, the "Rocket Enterprise" (Raketnoe Zavedenie) was founded in Moscow around 1680.

A signaling rocket developed in Russia in 1717 could reportedly reach an altitude of several hundreds meters. (120)

According to Russian archival records, in 1732, the St Petersburg-based Arsenal artillery enterprise originally founded by Peter the Great in 1711, produced 20 rocket-launching devices for the Russian border fortress of Brest. (79)

In 1814, I. Kartmazov, a member of the Military-Scientific Committee, reportedly tested battlefield missiles. (122)

In 1815, Russian artillery engineer Alexander Zasyadko (1779-1837) started the development of battlefield missiles for the Russian army. Zasyadko conducted numerous test firings of experimental missiles, developed techniques for mass production of rockets and led the formation of the first missile unit in the Russian army around 1827. Three types of battlefield missiles (2-, 2.5- and 4-inch caliber) developed by Zasayadko had a range of between 1,600 and 2,700 meters.

Zasyadko's written work, dated 1817, became the first Russian production and application manual for battlefield missiles.

The Russian army employed Zasyadko's missiles for the first time during the Russo-Turkish war of 1825. It is known that in 1828-29, Russian soldiers used missiles to bombard the Turkish stronghold in Varna, Bulgaria. (79)

Konstantinov's work

In 1849, another artillery engineer -- Konstantin Konstantinov -- took charge of the St. Petersburg-based "Rocket Enterprise" founded along with several similar European organizations in 1820s.

In 1847, Konstantinov built a "ballistic pendulum," which he used to determine the influence of a rocket's shape and design on its flying characteristics. After 1850, Konstantinov continuously tested battlefield missiles with the goal of improving their capabilities. Konstantinov studied different stabilization methods and detachable warheads. He also worked on improving production and assembly techniques used in rocketry. (2)

Rockets developed by Konstantinov had a range of 4-5 kilometers. Konstantinov also proposed to use rockets to shoot the harpoons used in whaling.

Konstantinov spent 1857 and 1858 in Europe, studying rocketry. During 1859-1861, back in Russia, Konstantinov delivered lectures on rocketry to military officers.

After 1861, Konstantinov led the foundation of the Nikolaev rocket-production plant, which became operational in 1867. (2)

In 1870, Russian artillery engineer Ivanin reportedly proposed a winged missile. (54)

However, advances in artillery, which took place in European armies by the 1860s, undermined the military applications of rocketry and led to the almost total extinction of battlefield missiles. Efforts to advance military rocketry revived after the invention of the smokeless gunpowder in 1884. (120)

A Russian artillery expert Mikhail Pomortsev actively experimented with rockets at the turn of the 20th century. Between 1902 and 1905, struggling to improve the accuracy of missiles, Pomortsev tested around 20 types of aerodynamic stabilizers on rockets. By 1908, Pomortsev's rockets reached a range of 8-9 kilometers.

Kibalchich

In Russia, the idea of using rocket propulsion for atmospheric flight was reportedly expressed in the mid-1800s by I. Tretesky, N. Sokovnin and N. Teleshev.

However, the most famous proposal of this sort was made by Nikolai Kibalchich, an explosives technician from the radical antigovernment organization "Narodnaya Volya". In 1881, during his 17-day incarceration in the Petrapavloskaya Fortress, St. Petersburg, where he was awaiting execution for his part in the assassination of Emperor Alexander II, Kibalchich sketched and described a manned flight vehicle propelled by a solid-fuel engine.

"While in prison, a few days before my death, I write this project," Kibalchich wrote, "I believe in the reality of my idea and this belief supports me in my terrible situation... If my idea ... is recognized as emplementable, I will be happy with the fact that I have made a huge favor to my native land and to humanity."

In his work, Kibalchich asked a rhetorical question: "What kind of force is applicable to aeronautics. Such force, I believe, is slowly burning explosives."

Kibalchich sketched a hollow metal cylinder with a hole at the bottom. "If the cylinder faces upward with its closed end, then with a certain pressure of the exhaust ... the cylinder should take off."

Kibalchich envisioned a rocket engine attached to a platform via a gymbal-like suspension, which would allow steering the craft by adjusting the direction of thrust of the engine. "I think that in practice, such a task is achievable ... and can be accomplished with modern technology," he wrote. (71)

Two days, before his execution, on March 31, 1881, Kibalchich made an official request to the minister of internal affairs to evaluate his proposal. The request asked for "issuance of a command on permitting an interview with a member of the committee in regard to this project ... or obtaining a written answer from a commission of experts."

On March 26, 1882, almost a year after tragic events of 1881, General Komarov, head of the gendarmes, sent a report to the State Police Department, stating "... I have the honor, in satisfying the appeal of Nikolai Kibalchich, accused of crimes against the State, to present his plan for an aeronautical device." (122)

However, Kibalchich's project fell victim to political stigma, tarnishing its author's name. "To give this to scientists for examination will hardly be timely, and may evoke only inappropriate comments," read the note on the package containing the project. The work was put in archives, where it remained untouched until August 1917 -- the year of two Russian revolutions, which toppled the centuries-old Tsarist rule and brought the Bolsheviks to power.

In March 1918, Nikolai Rynin, a restless propagandist of astronautics, got hold of Kibalchich's manuscript. With Rynin's review, Kibalchich's description of a manned rocket ship appeared in the April 1918 issue of the Byloye ("The Past") magazine.

During the Soviet era, the long-forgotten manuscript written by Kibalchich metamorphosed into another shot of official propaganda. In the typical extreme of the time, Soviet historians even "documented" how Kibalchich's writings had influenced young Sergei Korolev. Since then, the myth has effectively been debunked by independent researchers. (18)