Minotaur (rocket family)

The Minotaur is a family of American solid fuel rockets derived from converted Minuteman and Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles. They are built by Northrop Grumman via contract with the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's Space Development and Test Directorate (SMC/SD) as part of the Air Force's Rocket Systems Launch Program which converts retired Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) into space and test launch systems for US government agencies.

Minotaur on a launch pad at Wallops Flight Facility

Three variants of the Minotaur are currently in service. The Minotaur I is an orbital launch system used to launch small satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO). The Minotaur II is a target launch vehicle (TLV), also known as Chimera, used for suborbital flights, often as a target for tracking and anti-ballistic missile tests. The Minotaur IV is a more capable LEO launch system. The Minotaur V is designed to reach higher orbits, including geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) and trans-lunar trajectories. The Minotaur III is a version under development, which will be used for suborbital flights.

The Minotaur I and II are derived from the Minuteman missile, while the Minotaur III, IV and V are derived from the Peacekeeper.

Vehicles

Minotaur-C (Taurus)

The Taurus launch vehicle, later renamed[1] Minotaur-C (for "Minotaur-Commercial"), was the first of the Minotaur vehicle family, and the first ground-launched orbital booster developed by Orbital, derived by adding a solid booster stage to the air-launched Pegasus rocket. The first flight, sponsored by DARPA, was in 1994. After a series of failures between 2001 and 2011, the rocket was rebranded as Minotaur-C in 2014. Due to laws against selling government equipment, the Minotaur-C is the only available Minotaur rocket for commercial launches.

Minotaur I

The original Minotaur launch vehicle, consisting of an M55A1 first stage, SR19 second stage, Orion 50XL third stage, Orion 38 fourth stage, and optional HAPS fifth stage for velocity trim and multiple payload deployment. Payload 580 kg to a 185 km, 28.5° orbit from Cape Canaveral; or 310 kg to a 740 km sun-synchronous orbit from Vandenberg.[2]

Minotaur II

A suborbital target vehicle, essentially consisting of a Minuteman II with Orbital guidance and control systems. Consists of M55A1 first stage, SR19 second stage, and M57 third stage. Payload 460 kg on 6700 km suborbital trajectory.[2]

Minotaur III

A suborbital target vehicle, consisting of an SR118 first stage, SR119 second stage, SR120 third stage, and Super HAPS fourth stage. Payload 3060 kg on a 6700 km suborbital trajectory.[2]

Minotaur IV

The Minotaur IV combines U.S Government-furnished solid rocket motors from decommissioned Peacekeeper ICBMs with technologies from other Orbital-built launch vehicles, including the Minotaur I, Pegasus, and Taurus. The Minotaur IV launch vehicle consists of an SR118 first stage, SR119 second stage, SR120 third stage, and Orion 38 fourth stage. Payload 1735 kg to a 185 km, 28.5° orbit from Cape Canaveral. The first Minotaur IV was launched April 22, 2010 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.[3] This vehicle is also being developed to accommodate the Conventional Prompt Global Strike (CPGS) mission for the Air Force.

Minotaur V

The Minotaur V is a five-stage version based on the Minotaur IV+. It has an additional upper stage for small GTO, lunar, and interplanetary missions. NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission was launched on the first Minotaur V, from the Wallops Island, Virginia launch site at 03:27 UTC on September 7, 2013. The Minotaur launched the LADEE spacecraft into a highly elliptic orbit where it can phase and time its trajectory burn to the moon.[4]

Minotaur VI

A Minotaur VI five-stage version has also been conceptualized. It is also based on the Minotaur IV+, adding a second SR-118 first stage.[5]

Launch statistics

Rocket configurations

1

2

3

4

5

'94

'95

'96

'97

'98

'99

2000

'01

'02

'03

'04

'05

'06

'07

'08

'09

2010

'11

'12

'13

'14

'15

'16

'17

'18

'19

2020

Taurus/Minotaur‑C
Minotaur I
Minotaur II
Minotaur II+
Minotaur IV
Minotaur IV Lite
Minotaur IV HAPS
Minotaur IV+
Minotaur V

Launch sites

1

2

3

4

5

'94

'95

'96

'97

'98

'99

2000

'01

'02

'03

'04

'05

'06

'07

'08

'09

2010

'11

'12

'13

'14

'15

'16

'17

'18

'19

2020

Vandenberg LF‑06
Vandenberg SLC‑8
Vandenberg SLC‑576E
Kodiak LP‑1
MARS LP‑0B
Cape Canaveral SLC‑46

Launch outcomes

1

2

3

4

5

'94

'95

'96

'97

'98

'99

2000

'01

'02

'03

'04

'05

'06

'07

'08

'09

2010

'11

'12

'13

'14

'15

'16

'17

'18

'19

2020

Success
Failure
Planned

Launch history

Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
1994
1	March 13, 1994 22:32	Taurus/Minotaur-C (ARPA Taurus)	VAFB, SLC-576E	STEP Mission 0 and DARPASAT			USAF/DARPA[6][7]	Success
1
1998
Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
2	February 10, 1998 13:20	Taurus/Minotaur-C (Commercial Taurus configuration)	VAFB SLC-576E	GFO and Orbcomm (satellites 11,12)				Success
2
3	October 3, 1998 10:04	Taurus/Minotaur-C (Air Force Taurus Configuration)	VAFB SLC-576E	Space Technology Experiment (STEX)			NRO	Success
3
1999
Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
4	December 21, 1999 07:13	Taurus/Minotaur-C (Model 2110)	VAFB SLC-576E	KOMPSAT and ACRIMSAT				Success
4
2000
Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
1	January 27, 2000 03:03:06	Minotaur I	Vandenberg SLC-8	JAWSat (P98-1) (FalconSat1 / ASUSat1 / OCSE / OPAL)		LEO		Success
1
5	March 12, 2000 09:29	Taurus/Minotaur-C (Air Force Taurus Configuration)	VAFB SLC-576E	Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI)				Success
5
1	May 28, 2000 20:00	Minotaur II	Vandenberg LF-06	OSP-TLV Missile Defense Technology Demonstrator		Suborbital		Success
1
2	July 19, 2000 20:09:00	Minotaur I	Vandenberg SLC-8	MightySat II.1 (Sindri, P99-1) / MEMS 2A / MEMS 2B		LEO		Success
2
2001
Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
6	September 21, 2001 18:49	Taurus/Minotaur-C (Model 2110)	VAFB SLC-576E	Orbview-4/QuikTOMS				Failure
6
2	December 4, 2001 04:59	Minotaur II	Vandenberg LF-06	TLV-1 IFT-7 GMDS target mission		Suborbital		Success
2
2002
Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
3	March 16, 2002 02:11	Minotaur II	Vandenberg LF-06	TLV-2 IFT-8 GMDS target mission		Suborbital		Success
3
4	October 15, 2002 02:01	Minotaur II	Vandenberg LF-06	TLV-3 GMDS target mission		Suborbital		Success
4
5	December 11, 2002 08:26	Minotaur II	Vandenberg LF-06	TLV-4 GMDS target mission		Suborbital		Success
5
2004
Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
7	May 20, 2004 17:47	Taurus/Minotaur-C (Model 3210)	VAFB SLC-576E	ROCSAT-2				Success
7
2005
Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
3	April 11, 2005 13:35:00	Minotaur I	Vandenberg SLC-8	XSS-11		LEO		Success
3
4	September 22, 2005 19:24:00	Minotaur I	Vandenberg SLC-8	Streak (STP-R1)		LEO		Success
4
2006
Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
5	April 15, 2006 01:40:00	Minotaur I	Vandenberg SLC-8	COSMIC (FORMOSAT-3)		LEO		Success
5
6	December 16, 2006 12:00	Minotaur I	MARS LP-0B	TacSat-2 / GeneSat-1		LEO		Success
6
2007
Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
6	March 21, 2007 04:27	Minotaur II	Vandenberg LF-06	TLV-5 FTX-02 SBR target mission		Suborbital		Success
6
7	April 24, 2007 06:48	Minotaur I	MARS LP-0B	NFIRE		LEO		Success
7
7	August 23, 2007 08:30	Minotaur II+	Vandenberg LF-06	TLV-7 Mission 2a sensor target for NFIRE satellite		Suborbital		Success
7
2008
Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
8	September 24, 2008 06:57	Minotaur II+	Vandenberg LF-06	TLV-8 Mission 2b sensor target for NFIRE satellite		Suborbital		Success
8
2009
Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
8	February 24, 2009 09:55	Taurus/Minotaur-C (Model 3110)	VAFB SLC-576E	Orbiting Carbon Observatory [8]				Failure
8
8	May 19, 2009 23:55	Minotaur I	MARS LP-0B	TacSat-3 / PharmaSat / AeroCube 3 / HawkSat I / CP6		LEO		Success
8
2010
Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
1	April 22, 2010 23:00	Minotaur IV Lite	Vandenberg SLC-8	HTV-2a hypersonic research spacecraft		Suborbital		Success
1
2	September 26, 2010 04:41	Minotaur IV	Vandenberg SLC-8	SBSS		SSO		Success
2
3	November 20, 2010 01:25	Minotaur IV HAPS	Kodiak LP-1	STP-S26 (FASTRAC-A / FASTRAC-B / FalconSat-5 / FASTSAT / O/OREOS / RAX)		LEO		Success
3
2011
Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
9	February 6, 2011 12:26	Minotaur I	Vandenberg SLC-8	NROL-66		LEO		Success
9
9	March 4, 2011 10:09	Taurus/Minotaur-C (Model 3110)	VAFB SLC-576E	Glory, KySat-1, Hermes, and Explorer-1 [PRIME]				Failure[9]
9
10	June 30, 2011 03:09	Minotaur I	MARS LP-0B	ORS-1		LEO		Success
10
4	August 11, 2011 14:45	Minotaur IV Lite	Vandenberg Air Force Base	Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2b)		Suborbital		Success
4
5	September 27, 2011 15:49	Minotaur IV+	Kodiak LP-1	TacSat-4		MEO		Success
5
2013
Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
1	September 7, 2013 03:27	Minotaur V	MARS LP-0B	LADEE		HEO		Success
1
11	November 20, 2013 01:15	Minotaur I	MARS LP-0B	ORS-3 (STPSat-3 along with 28 additional cubesats)		LEO		Success[10][11]
11
2017
Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
6	August 26, 2017 06:04	Minotaur IV	CCAFS, SLC-46	ORS-5		LEO		Success
6
10	October 31, 2017 21:37	Minotaur-C (Model 3210)	VAFB SLC-576E	SkySat × 6, Flock-3m × 4				Success
10
2020
Flight №	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Payload mass	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
7	July 15, 2020 13:46	Minotaur IV	MARS, LP-0B	NROL-129 (USA 305 to USA 308)[12]		LEO	NRO	Success
7

Planned launches

Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer
Q2 2021 [13]	Minotaur I	MARS, LP-0B	NROL-111		NRO
Late 2021 [13]	Minotaur II	Vandenberg, SLC-8		Suborbital	SMC
Late 2021 [13]	Minotaur IV	MARS, LP-0B	NROL-174		NRO

References

Stephen Clark, "Taurus rocket on the market with new name, upgrades", SPACEFLIGHT NOW. February 24, 2014.
"Minotaur". Encyclopedia Astronautix. Archived from the original on 2009-05-08.
"Minotaur IV". Orbital Sciences Corporation.
Culler, Jessica (16 June 2015). "LADEE - Lunar Atmosphere Dust and Environment Explorer". nasa.gov. Retrieved 1 August 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
"Orbital ATK" (PDF). orbital.com. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
"DARPASAT". space.skyrocket.de. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
"Encyclopedia Astronautica: TAOS". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
"OCO". Orbital Sciences Corporation.
"Taurus rocket nose shroud dooms another NASA satellite". Spaceflight Now, March 2011.
Powell, Rebecca (16 April 2015). "Air Force Minotaur Rocket Launching from Virginia November 19". Nasa.gov. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
"ORS-3 and STPSat-3 Successfully Launched". Losangeles.af.mil. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
"NROL-129". Gunters Space Page. Archived from the original on 2019-03-23. Retrieved 2019-03-23.
"Minotaur rocket successfully deploys four NRO satellites in orbit". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 15 July 2020.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[Clark2014-1] Stephen Clark, "Taurus rocket on the market with new name, upgrades", SPACEFLIGHT NOW. February 24, 2014.

[EA-2] "Minotaur". Encyclopedia Astronautix. Archived from the original on 2009-05-08.

[3] "Minotaur IV". Orbital Sciences Corporation.

[4] Culler, Jessica (16 June 2015). "LADEE - Lunar Atmosphere Dust and Environment Explorer". nasa.gov. Retrieved 1 August 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[5] "Orbital ATK" (PDF). orbital.com. Retrieved 1 August 2017.

[6] "DARPASAT". space.skyrocket.de. Retrieved 2020-07-15.

[7] "Encyclopedia Astronautica: TAOS". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2011-08-27.

[8] "OCO". Orbital Sciences Corporation.

[SFN-TRN-9] "Taurus rocket nose shroud dooms another NASA satellite". Spaceflight Now, March 2011.

[10] Powell, Rebecca (16 April 2015). "Air Force Minotaur Rocket Launching from Virginia November 19". Nasa.gov. Retrieved 1 August 2017.

[11] "ORS-3 and STPSat-3 Successfully Launched". Losangeles.af.mil. Retrieved 1 August 2017.

[NROL-129-12] "NROL-129". Gunters Space Page. Archived from the original on 2019-03-23. Retrieved 2019-03-23.

[SFN20200715-13] "Minotaur rocket successfully deploys four NRO satellites in orbit". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 15 July 2020.

Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara A5 Antares 230+ Ariane 5 Atlas V Ceres-1 Delta IV Heavy Electron Epsilon Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy GSLV Mk II Mk III H-IIA Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11^† Kaituozhe 2 LauncherOne Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 7 7A^† 8 11 Minotaur I IV V C OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qased Rocket 3^† Safir Shavit Simorgh^† Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v Unha Vega Zenit 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque-1^†
In development	Amur Angara 1.2 Ariane 6 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Eris Firefly Alpha Beta H3 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 921 rocket 9 Miura 5 New Glenn New Line 1 Nuri OS-M2 OS-M4 Orbex Prime SLS Soyuz-7 SSLV Starship Terran 1 Vega C Vega E Vulcan Zero Zhuque-2
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 Ariane 1 2 3 4 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV Diamant Dnepr Energia Europa^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos 1 2I 3 3M Lambda 4S Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Saturn I IB V Scout SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates historical or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but did not ever succeed (never did or has performed a successful orbital launch)

Orbital launch systems developed in the United States
Active	Antares 230+ Atlas V Delta IV Heavy Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy LauncherOne Minotaur I IV V C Pegasus Rocket 3
In development	Firefly Alpha Beta New Glenn SLS Starship Terran 1 Vulcan
Retired	Antares 110/120/130/230** Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Conestoga Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" H-I* Juno I Juno II N-I* N-II* Pilot Saturn I IB V Scout Space Shuttle SPARK Sparta Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Vanguard
* - Japanese projects using US rockets or stages ** - uses Russian engines

Minotaur (rocket family)

Vehicles

Minotaur-C (Taurus)

Minotaur I

Minotaur II

Minotaur III

Minotaur IV

Minotaur V

Minotaur VI

Launch statistics

Rocket configurations

Launch sites

Launch outcomes

Launch history

1994

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2013

2017

2020

Planned launches

See also

References

External links