White Sands V-2 Launching Site

The White Sands V-2 Launching Site, also known as Launch Complex 33 and originally as Army Launch Area Number 1, is a historic rocket launch complex at White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico. It was here that the United States first performed test launches of German V-2 rockets captured toward the end of World War II. These test where the first step in both military advances in rocketry, and in the development of the United States space exploration programs. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985.