Rockets in Antiquity

Ancient China is the first known civilization to have developed rocketry for military purposes. While searching for the Elixir of Life, Chinese Taoist Alchemists created black powder, which was soon realized to be useful in explosives, and eventually, projectiles.

Exactly when the Chinese first used Rockets in battle is not known, but it is thought that the Chinese used rocket technology against Mongol hordes in 1232, where there were reports of fire arrows causing damage for a radius of 600 meters. The fire arrows could either have been arrows with explosives at the end, or arrows propelled by gunpowder, such as the Korean Hwacha which consisted of a launch pad containing up to 100 steel-tipped arrows, all rigged to be set off at the same time towards the opposing force.

In the Chinese military text Huologjing multistage rockets are mentioned, but it is still unknown whether they were actually implemented or even built.