The General Electric Hermes project immediately after WWII. It included the firing of captured German V-2, as well as a number of missile research projects.
The Hermes RV-A-10 project was inspired by a researcher who left the JPL in frustration over the abandonment of promising solid fuel technology. The RV-A-10 was to break the size barrier in solid fuel rocketry. Begun in 1950 as a solid fuel missile to carry a 1500 lb warhead 86 miles, The heart of the project was a 31” diameter solid rocket motor. Its revolutionary propellant grain of synthetic rubber and granular perchlorate was the key to large, reliable solids.
The RV-A-10 never became a production missile, but it paved the way for large solid rocket motors such as the boosters of the Delta, Shuttle and Titan.