Who launched the first successful liquid-fueled rocket?

Robert H. Goddard launched the first successful liquid-fueled rocket.

Goddard’s rocket lifted off on March 16, 1926, from a farm in Auburn, Massachusetts. It burned gasoline and liquid oxygen, rose about 12.5 meters, and traveled roughly 56 meters in 2.5 seconds. Although the flight was brief, it proved a crucial principle of modern rocketry.

Earlier rockets generally used solid propellants. Liquid propulsion allowed engineers to control the flow of fuel and oxidizer, making higher performance and more sophisticated guidance possible. Goddard continued developing rocket technology, including pumps, gyroscopic control, and staged designs.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky developed important theoretical ideas, and Hermann Oberth wrote influential studies, but neither launched the first successful liquid-fueled rocket. Goddard’s experiment supplied the practical demonstration.