First use of rockets

The first rockets were invented in China in the late 12th century. The earliest examples, known as ti lao shu or "ground rats", comprised a cell of a bamboo stem with a hole pierced through one end and filled with gunpowder. These simple solid-propellant rockets could then be attached to an arrow-like projectile or simply ignited and released as fireworks.

It is hard to say when exactly the first rockets appeared as the term used to describe early rocket weapons was huo chien ("fire arrows"). The same term had been used for centuries to describe incendiary arrows, some of which carried parcels of low-nitrate gunpowder (i.e. powder that burns fiercely but doesn't explode).

The first rockets may have been devices known as ti lao shu or "ground rats", the earliest references to which date from the late 12th century. These were short lengths of gunpowder-filled bamboo with a small hole at one end. When ignited, they would go careening across the ground like an out-of-control bottle rocket, bouncing around and creating lots of noise, flame and smoke.

Ti lao shu are first described as fireworks used for entertainment at royal events, but it has been suggested that they may have been in use in warfare prior to these public spectacles – probably as a means of scaring enemy horses.

Attaching these simple solid rocket motors to finned projectiles, making them into something that could be trusted to fly on a more-or-less predictable path, is a fairly logical step and likely took place at around the same time.

The 14th century military treatise known as the Huo Lung Ching ("Fire Drake Manual"), which is thought to draw on earlier lost texts, includes detailed descriptions of a wide range of rocket-based weapons including multi-stage missiles, suggesting that the technology was mature by the mid-13th century.