— Ch. 1 · Rocketry Origins And Founding —
Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
~5 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
In 1936, a group of graduate students gathered in the Arroyo Seco riverbed north of Pasadena to test their first liquid-fueled rocket engine. Frank Malina, Jack Parsons, and Edward Forman stood amidst the rocky floodplain as alcohol-fueled motors sputtered into life. They called themselves the Suicide Squad because explosions were frequent and injuries common during these early experiments. Theodore von Kármán served as their advisor and secured U.S. Army financial support for what became known as the GALCIT Rocket Project by 1939. The team included Qian Xuesen, Weld Arnold, and Apollo M.O. Smith alongside the original three founders. Their work focused on developing jet-assisted takeoff rockets that would eventually help launch aircraft from short runways. By 1941, they demonstrated successful JATO rockets to military officials including Homer Bushey who piloted the test flights. The project took on the name Jet Propulsion Laboratory in November 1943 when it formally became an Army facility operated under contract by Caltech.
Military Development And Transition
During its Army years, JPL developed two significant deployed weapon systems: the MGM-5 Corporal and MGM-29 Sergeant tactical ballistic missiles. These marked the first U.S. ballistic missiles created at the laboratory. Engineers also built prototypes like the Loki anti-aircraft missile system and the Aerobee sounding rocket precursor. Testing occurred at White Sands Proving Ground, Edwards Air Force Base, and Goldstone, California throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1954, JPL partnered with Wernher von Braun's engineers at Redstone Arsenal to propose orbiting a satellite during the International Geophysical Year. That proposal lost to Project Vanguard but led to classified work demonstrating ablative re-entry technology using Jupiter-C rockets. Three successful sub-orbital flights happened in 1956 and 1957 before launching Explorer 1 on the 31st of January 1958. This achievement marked America's first satellite launch and signaled a new era for both JPL and the United States in space exploration. Less than a year later in December 1958, JPL transferred to the newly formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration.