The Group for the Study of Reactive Motion (GIRD) was established in Moscow in 1931 to organize Soviet work on rocket engines and rocket flight. It operated within the wider Soviet system of technical clubs and defense-related societies, helping move rocketry from small circles into a more formal research program.
During 1932, GIRD’s teams began developing Rocket Projectile No. 09 (often written GIRD-09). The project aimed to prove that liquid oxygen (an oxidizer that provides oxygen for combustion) could be used in a practical rocket, a key step beyond earlier solid-propellant experiments.
In 1932, Sergey Korolev replaced the ailing Friedrich (Fridrikh) Zander as head of GIRD. GIRD organized itself into specialized brigades focused on engines, rockets, ramjets, and rocket aircraft concepts, which helped it turn ideas into testable hardware.
In January 1933, Friedrich Zander began development of the GIRD-X rocket (also described as GIRD-10). This work pushed GIRD toward more capable liquid-propellant designs and included early work on regenerative cooling, a method that routes propellant around hot engine parts to prevent burn-through.
Friedrich Zander, a key early advocate of Soviet rocketry and a founder of GIRD, died on March 28, 1933. His death removed a central visionary figure, leaving Korolev and other engineers to carry forward GIRD’s engine and rocket projects.
On August 17, 1933, GIRD successfully launched GIRD-09 at the Nakhabino test range near Moscow. This is widely treated as the first Soviet rocket flight using liquid oxygen in its propulsion system, marking a major proof-of-concept for liquid-propellant rocketry in the USSR.
On September 21, 1933, Soviet authorities created the Reactive Scientific Research Institute (RNII) by combining GIRD with the Leningrad Gas Dynamics Laboratory (GDL). The merger was meant to concentrate people, funding, and test facilities into one national center for rocket engines and rocket weapons.
On November 25, 1933, the GIRD-X rocket (often called GIRD-10) was launched, demonstrating another early Soviet liquid-propellant rocket design. Coming soon after the creation of RNII, the flight helped carry GIRD’s technical momentum into the new, larger institution.
In January 1937, RNII was renamed Scientific-Research Institute 3 (NII-3) and shifted under a defense-industry management structure. This reflected a broader change: rocket work was increasingly treated as a military-industrial program, not only as experimental science.
In late 1937 and early 1938, key figures tied to the former GIRD and GDL programs were arrested and executed, including director Ivan Kleymyonov and engineer Georgy Langemak. These actions disrupted teams, halted projects, and created a climate of fear that slowed Soviet rocket research during a critical period.
On June 27, 1938, Sergei Korolev was arrested by the NKVD, further weakening the rocket research community that had grown out of GIRD. His removal meant that several experimental aircraft-and-rocket concepts lost one of their leading designers at a time when the institute was already under heavy political pressure.
On February 28, 1940, the RP-318-1 rocket glider completed its first powered flight, demonstrating controlled flight using a liquid-propellant rocket engine. Although the work began earlier, the flight showed that the institutional knowledge built since GIRD could still produce advanced tests even after the purges.
On July 14, 1941, the BM-13 “Katyusha” multiple rocket launcher was used in combat for the first time, commonly reported at Orsha. This combat debut signaled that the early research line that began with GIRD and was consolidated through RNII/NII-3 had matured into weapons deployed at wartime scale.
On July 15, 1942, NII-3 was renamed the State Institute of Reactive Technology (GIRT) and placed under direct government reporting. The change highlighted a closing outcome of the 1931–1943 arc: early experimental groups like GIRD had evolved into centralized institutes tasked with delivering practical rocket technology for the Soviet war effort.
Group for the Study of Reactive Motion (GIRD) Projects and Tests (1931–1943)