Redstone Arsenal

Redstone Arsenal
Redstone Arsenal, Alabama
RSA Headquarters (Bldg. 7101) with PGM-11 Redstone missile display
Type	Army post
Site information
Controlled by	United States Army
Website	garrison.redstone.army.mil
Site history
Built	1941
In use	1941–present
Garrison information
Garrison	U.S. Army Aviation and Missile LCMC U.S. Army Materiel Command Missile Defense Agency U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command Aviation & Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center

Redstone Arsenal (RSA) is a United States Army post and a census-designated place (CDP) adjacent to Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama, United States and is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The Arsenal is a garrison for a number of tenants including the United States Army Materiel Command, Army's Aviation and Missile Command, the Missile Defense Agency of the Department of Defense, and NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Many of these units are moving due to decisions by the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission. The Redstone Arsenal CDP had a population of 1,946 as of the 2010 census. The base contains a government and contractor workforce that averages 36,000 to 40,000 personnel daily.

Originally a chemical weapons manufacturing facility for World War II, in the immediate post-war era it became home to the German rocket scientists that were brought to the US as part of Operation Paperclip. The team first worked on ballistic missiles, starting with V-2 rocket derivatives before moving on to a series of ever larger designs. Many of their tests were carried out at White Sands Missile Range and flights between the two locations were common. In late 1956 the Army was relieved of most of its ballistic missiles in favor of similar weapons operated by the US Air Force. The German design team was then spun off to become part of the newly founded NASA. Redstone served as the primary site for space launch vehicle design into the 1960s.