The V-2 rocket (German: Vergeltungswaffe 2) was the first ballistic missile and first man-made object to achieve sub-orbital spaceflight, the progenitor of all modern rockets. Over 3,000 V-2s were launched as military rockets by the German Wehrmacht against Allied targets in World War II, resulting in the death of an estimated 7,250 military personnel and civilians.

An estimated 20,000 inmates at Mittelbau-Dora died constructing V-2s; 9000 died from exhaustion and collapse, 350 hanged (including 200 for sabotage), the remainder were shot or died from disease or starvation.