Spaceport Heritage Series

Spaceport Heritage

Exploring the Past, Inspiring Tomorrow’s Spaceports 

Spaceport Heritage Series

2026 is the centennial celebration of Robert Goddard’s historic launches of the world’s first liquid-fueled rockets, from a rural farm in Massachusetts. In commemoration, GSA and Merrick & Co. are developing a Spaceport Heritage series that highlights the origins and little-known facts about existing and proposed spaceports around the globe, to enlighten and inspire our spaceport community. They will be published in upcoming GSA newsletters on a regular basis. SUBSCRIBE to be notified!
FEATURE
Merrick and Goddard

Goddard Launch Site, Massachusetts - USA 

March 6, 2026

In 1926, rocket pioneer Robert H. Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket from Asa Wood Farm in Auburn, Massachusetts. Over the next three years, he conducted eight experimental launches using gasoline and liquid oxygen, demonstrating the propulsion systems that would shape modern spaceflight.

Public concerns about noise, fires, and falling debris eventually halted operations at the farm, ending what might have become the world’s first dedicated launch site. Goddard later moved his work to New Mexico with support from the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics.

Today the historic launch site rests quietly within the Pakachoag Golf Course, recognized as a National Historic Landmark and remembered as an early chapter in the story of spaceports.

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ABOUT MERRICK & COMPANY

Merrick

Merrick & Company is an employee-owned international provider of engineering, architecture, planning, and infrastructure solutions for the aerospace industry, including spaceports and other space-related high performance facilities on Earth and beyond. Merrick is a platinum sponsor of the Global Spaceport Alliance.