Hermann Ganswindt (12 June 1856, Voigtshof bei Seeburg, East Prussia – 25 October 1934) was a German inventor and spaceflight scientist, whose inventions (such as the dirigible, the helicopter, and the internal combustion engine) are thought to have been ahead of his time. After 1880 he developed concepts for a space vehicle based on the principle of repulsion. His two-stage vehicle was designed to be driven by a series of dynamite explosions. Since it was to be taken aloft by way of a carrier vehicle, he designed a helicopter as early as 1884.