Was the Sputnik rocket much bigger than von Braun's V2?

Despite von Braun's influential efforts to sell spaceflight in the 1950s, it was not until after Sputnik—that is, after he already had been in the rocket business for a quarter century—that he had any money to build space hardware. read more

In the same report, Korolev also informed Khrushchev that the U.S. scientist, Wernher von Braun, the father of V-2, was building a rocket weighing 7,000 tons—25 times bigger than his R-7. read more

Little could von Braun have anticipated that, in the relatively short number of years to come, rocket technology would be used for purposes far more noble and inspiring than that of just armaments. Undoubtedly, the V2 program provided, at the very least, a foundation for the Soviet space effort. read more