After World War II, the United States government's Office of Strategic Services (OSS) brought him to the U.S. as part of the clandestine Operation Paperclip, where he became one of the main developers of the U.S. space program.

He worked within the U.S. Army and NASA, where he managed the development of several systems, including the Pershing missile and the Saturn V Moon rocket.

His father Gustav died in 1915 while serving in World War I. Arthur and his younger brother Walter were raised by their mother, Ida.

Rudolph already had some interest in rocketry, having read Wege zur Raumschiffahrt (Ways to Spaceflight) by Hermann Oberth and having seen the 1929 film Woman in the Moon.

[3]: 38 Rudolph first met Wernher von Braun when he visited a meeting of the Verein für Raumschiffahrt (VfR, the "Spaceflight Society").

Pietsch met with Walter Dornberger, who had been tasked by the German Ordnance Department to develop a rocket weapons system and had become interested in the VfR.

After demonstrating the new engine to Dornberger, Rudolph moved to the proving grounds at Kummersdorf along with Riedel, and began working under von Braun.

Static testing on the A-3 engines began in Kummersdorf in late 1936 and were observed by General Werner von Fritsch, the commander-in chief of the German Army High Command.

The Kummersdorf facilities were inadequate for continued operations, so the von Braun team was moved to Peenemünde in May 1937 where Rudolph was tasked with the building of the A-3 test stand.

In early 1938, Dornberger put Rudolph in charge of the design for the new production plant to be built at Peenemünde for the A-4 series, later renamed the V-2 (Vergeltungswaffe-Reprisal Weapon-2).

By March 1945, production had stopped due to a lack of parts and Rudolph and his staff were moved to Oberammergau where they met von Braun and others from Peenemünde.

Overcast was renamed Operation Paperclip in March 1946 and formally approved by President Truman in August 1946 and most of the group stayed permanently.

In January 1947 Rudolph was moved to the Ordnance Research and Development Division at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, where his family finally joined him in April.

During his time at Fort Bliss, he acted as a liaison to the Solar Aircraft Company,[Note 3] and spent much of 1947 and 1949 in San Diego, California.

[7]On June 25, 1950, Rudolph was transferred to Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama, and his group was re-designated as the Ordnance Guided Missile Center.

He also chose the Eclipse-Pioneer division of Bendix to develop the guidance system after he personally inspected the plant in Teterboro, New Jersey.

In 1979, Eli Rosenbaum of the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) by chance read about Rudolph in a book about moving rocket parts using forced labor.

[11] Rosenbaum had conducted research at the National Archives, about the Dora war crimes trial, appearing to connect Rudolph with the use of forced labor at Mittelwerk.

The first of three interviews, it centered on his attitudes on racial superiority, his early participation in the Nazi Party and a possible role in the treatment of prisoners at Mittelwerk.

The World Jewish Congress placed articles in newspapers in January 1985 on behalf of the Department of Justice, searching for survivors of the Mittelwerk.

In March 1987, the investigation concluded after questioning a number of witnesses and determining no basis for prosecution, since the only crime which had not passed the statute of limitations was murder.

These included retired Major General John Medaris (former commander of ABMA), officials of the city of Huntsville, the American Legion and former associates at NASA.

In May 1990, Representative James Traficant of Ohio submitted a motion calling for hearings to determine whether the OSI was "justified in its actions or violated the rights of Arthur Rudolph.

After Rudolph left, an immigration hearing was held in his absence; he was represented by Barbara Kulaszka, but Canadian authorities ruled that he could not return to Canada.