The V-2 rocket (Vergeltungswaffe 2, retaliation weapon), technical name A4, was a long range ballistic missile that was developed by the end of the Second World War in Nazi Germany. The rocket was the world's first long-range combat-ballistic missile and first human artifact to achieve sub-orbital spaceflight. It was the progenitor of all modern rockets. Over 3,000 V-2s were launched as military rockets by the German Wehrmacht against Allied targets during the war, mostly London, resulting in the death of an estimated 7,250 military personnel and civilians.