Minotaur I

Minotaur I
	Minotaur I with NFIRE at MARS
Function	Small expendable launch system
Manufacturer	Northrop Grumman
Country of origin	United States
Size
Height	19.21 metres (63.0 ft)
Diameter	1.67 metres (5 ft 6 in)
Mass	36,200 kilograms (79,800 lb)
Stages	4 or 5
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	580 kilograms (1,280 lb)
Payload to SSO
Mass	331 kilograms (730 lb)
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Vandenberg SLC-8; MARS LP-0B
Total launches	13
Success(es)	13
First flight	27 January 2000
Last flight	18 June 2024
First stage – M55A1
Powered by	1 Solid
Maximum thrust	935 kilonewtons (210,000 lbf)
Propellant	Solid
Second stage – SR19
Powered by	1 Solid
Maximum thrust	268 kilonewtons (60,000 lbf)
Propellant	Solid
Third stage – Orion 50XL
Powered by	1 Solid
Maximum thrust	118.2 kilonewtons (26,600 lbf)
Burn time	74 seconds
Propellant	Solid
Fourth stage – Orion 38
Powered by	1 Solid
Maximum thrust	34.8 kilonewtons (7,800 lbf)
Burn time	68 seconds
Propellant	Solid
	[edit on Wikidata]

The Minotaur I, or just Minotaur is an American expendable launch system derived from the Minuteman II missile.^[1] It is used to launch small satellites for the US Government, and is a member of the Minotaur family of rockets produced by Orbital Sciences Corporation (now Northrop Grumman).^[2]

Vehicle

The Minotaur I is the follow-on to the Orbital Sciences' Taurus (later renamed the "Minotaur-C"^[3]) launch vehicle, combining the original Taurus's booster stage with a second stage from a Minuteman missile.^[4]

Minotaur I rockets consist of the M55A1 first stage and SR19 second stage of a decommissioned Minuteman missile.^[1] The Orion 50XL and Orion 38, from the Pegasus rocket, are used as third and fourth stages. A HAPS (Hydrazine Auxiliary Propulsion System) upper stage can also be flown if greater precision is needed, or the rocket needs to be able to manoeuvre to deploy multiple payloads.^[5] It can place up to 580 kilograms (1,280 lb) of payload into a 185-kilometer (115 mi) low Earth orbit at 28.5 degrees of inclination.^[1]

The Minotaur I is 69 feet tall and 5 feet wide.^[6]

Initially Minotaur I launches are conducted from Space Launch Complex 8 at the Vandenberg Air Force Base. Starting with the launch of TacSat-2 in December 2006, launches have also been conducted from Pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island.^[5]

Launch history

There have been thirteen launches of the Minotaur I, all successful.

Minotaur I launch history
Flight	Date (UTC)	Payload	Launch pad	Trajectory	Result
1	January 27, 2000 03:03:06	JAWSat (P98-1) (FalconSat1 / ASUSat1 / OCSE / OPAL)	Vandenberg SLC-8	LEO	Success^[7]
2	July 19, 2000 20:09:00	MightySat II.1 (Sindri, P99-1) / MEMS 2A / MEMS 2B	Vandenberg SLC-8	LEO	Success^[8]
3	April 11, 2005 13:35:00	XSS-11	Vandenberg SLC-8	LEO	Success^[9]
4	September 23, 2005 02:24:00	Streak (STP-R1)	Vandenberg SLC-8	LEO	Success^[10]
5	April 15, 2006 01:40:00	COSMIC (FORMOSAT-3)	Vandenberg SLC-8	LEO	Success^[11]
6	December 16, 2006 12:00	TacSat-2 / GeneSat-1	MARS LP-0B	LEO	Success^[12]
7	April 24, 2007 06:48	NFIRE	MARS LP-0B	LEO	Success^[13]
8	May 19, 2009 23:55	TacSat-3	MARS LP-0B	LEO	Success^[14]
9	February 6, 2011 12:26	USA-225 (NROL-66)	Vandenberg SLC-8	LEO	Success^[15]
10	June 30, 2011 03:09	ORS-1	MARS LP-0B	LEO	Success^[16]
11	November 20, 2013 01:15	ORS-3,^[17] STPSat-3 and 28 CubeSat satellites^[18]	MARS LP-0B	LEO	Success^[19]
12	June 15, 2021 13:35	NROL-111	MARS LP-0B	LEO	Success^[20]
13	June 18, 2024 07:01	Mk21A reentry vehicle test	Vandenberg TP-01	Suborbital	Success^[21]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Minotaur I Space Launch Vehicle—Fact Sheet" (PDF). Orbital Sciences. NASA. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
^ "Minotaur Rocket". Northrop Grumman. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
^ Clark, Stephen (24 February 2014). "Taurus rocket on the market with new name, upgrades". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
^ "Minotaur I Space Launch Vehicle" (PDF). NASA. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 25, 2017. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Minotaur I User's Guide - Release 3.0" (PDF). Orbital Sciences Corporation. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
^ "NASA - TacSat-2 Mission Information". www.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
^ Ray, Justin. "Spaceflight Now - Minotaur Mission Report - Mission Status Center - JAWSAT". Retrieved 21 April 2013.
^ Ray, Justin. "Spaceflight Now - Minotaur Mission Report - Mission Status Center - Mightysat 2.1". Retrieved 21 April 2013.
^ Ray, Justin. "Minotaur rocket launches U.S. military spacecraft". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
^ Ray, Justin. "Rocket launch paints sky with breath-taking scene". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
^ Ray, Justin. "Spaceflight Now - Minotaur Mission Report - Mission Status Center - COSMIC". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
^ Clark, Stephen. "Minotaur rocket makes sunrise ascent from Virginia". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
^ Ray, Justin. "Missile research spacecraft soars into orbit from Virginia". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
^ Clark, Stephen. "Minotaur lofts experimental satellite for U.S. military". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
^ "Orbital Successfully Launches Minotaur I Rocket for U.S. Air Force". Orbital Sciences Corporation. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
^ "Orbital Successfully Launches Minotaur I Rocket Carrying ORS-1 Satellite for the U.S. Air Force". Orbital Sciences Corporation. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
^ "Media Accreditation Open for ORS-3 Mission from Wallops in November". NASA. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
^ "Orbital's Minotaur I successfully lofts multitude of payloads". NASASpaceFlight.com. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
^ "Orbital Successfully Launches Minotaur I Rocket Supporting ORS-3 Mission for the U.S. Air Force". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
^ "Northrop Grumman Successfully Launches Minotaur I Rocket for the National Reconnaissance Office". Northrop Grumman. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
^ Hadley, Greg (2024-06-18). "Air Force, Lockheed Test New Reentry Vehicle for Sentinel ICBM". Air & Space Forces Magazine. Retrieved 2024-06-29.

"Fact Sheet" (PDF). Minotaur I. Orbital Sciences Corporation. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
"Minotaur Mission History". Minotaur I. Orbital Sciences Corporation. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
"Minotaur I Users Guide" (PDF). Minotaur I. Orbital Sciences Corporation. Retrieved 2015-09-01.
Wade, Mark. "Minotaur". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2009-05-08. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
Krebs, Gunter. "Minotaur-1 (OSP-SLV)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
Krebs, Gunter. "Minotaur-1 (OSP-SLV)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
Krebs, Gunter. "Minotaur-1 HAPS (OSP-SLV)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-04-28.

[minotaur-factsheet-1] "Minotaur I Space Launch Vehicle—Fact Sheet" (PDF). Orbital Sciences. NASA. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2021.

[2] "Minotaur Rocket". Northrop Grumman. Retrieved 2021-06-07.

[SFN-MinotaurC-3] Clark, Stephen (24 February 2014). "Taurus rocket on the market with new name, upgrades". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 26 May 2014.

[4] "Minotaur I Space Launch Vehicle" (PDF). NASA. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 25, 2017. Retrieved March 12, 2023.

[minotaur-i-user-guide-5] "Minotaur I User's Guide - Release 3.0" (PDF). Orbital Sciences Corporation. Retrieved 1 September 2015.

[6] "NASA - TacSat-2 Mission Information". www.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2021-08-03.

[7] Ray, Justin. "Spaceflight Now - Minotaur Mission Report - Mission Status Center - JAWSAT". Retrieved 21 April 2013.

[8] Ray, Justin. "Spaceflight Now - Minotaur Mission Report - Mission Status Center - Mightysat 2.1". Retrieved 21 April 2013.

[9] Ray, Justin. "Minotaur rocket launches U.S. military spacecraft". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 April 2013.

[10] Ray, Justin. "Rocket launch paints sky with breath-taking scene". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 April 2013.

[11] Ray, Justin. "Spaceflight Now - Minotaur Mission Report - Mission Status Center - COSMIC". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 April 2013.

[12] Clark, Stephen. "Minotaur rocket makes sunrise ascent from Virginia". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 April 2013.

[13] Ray, Justin. "Missile research spacecraft soars into orbit from Virginia". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 April 2013.

[14] Clark, Stephen. "Minotaur lofts experimental satellite for U.S. military". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 April 2013.

[15] "Orbital Successfully Launches Minotaur I Rocket for U.S. Air Force". Orbital Sciences Corporation. Retrieved 21 April 2013.

[16] "Orbital Successfully Launches Minotaur I Rocket Carrying ORS-1 Satellite for the U.S. Air Force". Orbital Sciences Corporation. Retrieved 21 April 2013.

[17] "Media Accreditation Open for ORS-3 Mission from Wallops in November". NASA. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2013.

[18] "Orbital's Minotaur I successfully lofts multitude of payloads". NASASpaceFlight.com. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2013.

[19] "Orbital Successfully Launches Minotaur I Rocket Supporting ORS-3 Mission for the U.S. Air Force". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 November 2013.

[20] "Northrop Grumman Successfully Launches Minotaur I Rocket for the National Reconnaissance Office". Northrop Grumman. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.

[21] Hadley, Greg (2024-06-18). "Air Force, Lockheed Test New Reentry Vehicle for Sentinel ICBM". Air & Space Forces Magazine. Retrieved 2024-06-29.

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v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 7 7A 8 11 11H 12 LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Deca Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 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 IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† 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 original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne 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^† Rocket 3 RS1^† Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^†
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 past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

v t e Orbital launch systems developed in the United States
Active	Atlas V**^†† Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Minotaur I IV V C Pegasus XL SLS Block 1 Vulcan Centaur
In development	Antares 330 Daytona I MLV New Glenn Neutron Nova Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Starship Terran R
Retired	Antares 110/120/130/230/230+^††† 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 IV Heavy Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" H-I* Juno I Juno II LauncherOne N-I* N-II* Pilot Rocket 3 RS1^† Saturn I IB V Scout Space Shuttle SPARK Sparta Terran 1 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 ^† - never succeeded ^†† - no new orders accepted ^††† - used Ukrainian first stage

Vehicle

Launch history

See also

References