<P> The first gunpowder - powered rockets were developed in the Song Dynasty in China by the 13th century . The technology spread throughout the Old World in the wake of the Mongol invasions of the mid-13th century . Medieval and early modern rockets were used militarily as incendiary weapons in sieges . </P> <P> The first iron - cased rockets were developed in the late 15th century in the Kingdom of Mysore, adopted and improved as the Congreve rocket and used in the Napoleonic Wars . Use of liquid propellants instead of gunpowder greatly improved the effectiveness of rocket artillery in World War I, and opened up the possibility of manned spaceflight after 1918 . </P>

The first form of the rocket is believed have been developed in