Private was an experimental rocket developed by the California Institute of Technology on behalf of the United States Army.

The Private program was begun in 1944 as an outgrowth of work by the California Institute of Technology's Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory that had produced the first practical jet-assisted take-off (JATO) rockets.

The first flight of the Private A rocket, developed under the direction of Tsien Hsue-shen,[3] took place in December 1944, conducted at Camp Irwin in California.

[5]: 14  The tests were considered successful, Private A proving capable of flights of 18,000 metres (20,000 yd), and in January 1945 full funding for the ballistic missile program was provided, with GALCIT changing its name to Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

[2]: 19 Following the conclusion of the Private program, the lessons learned were applied to the development of the SSM-A-17 Corporal ballistic missile.