Minotaur (rocket family)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Minotaur is a family of United States solid-fuel launch vehicles repurposed from retired Minuteman and Peacekeeper model intercontinental ballistic missiles. Built by Northrop Grumman under the Space Force's Rocket Systems Launch Program, these vehicles are used for various space and test launch missions.

The Minotaur family consists of four main variants: the Minotaur I, primarily used for launching small satellites into low Earth orbit; the Minotaur II, primarily used as a suborbital target vehicle; the Minotaur IV, a small-lift launch vehicle; and the Minotaur V, capable of reaching higher orbits, including geostationary transfer orbit and trans-lunar trajectories. Minotaur I and II are derived from the Minuteman missile, while Minotaur IV, V, and the cancelled Minotaur III are based on the Peacekeeper ICBM.

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 Sciences Corporation (OSC), 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 launch vehicle was rebranded as Minotaur-C in 2014. Due to laws against selling government equipment, the Minotaur-C is the only available Minotaur launch vehicle for commercial launches.^{[citation needed]}

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 (SSO) 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] The vehicle's development was cancelled and the Minotaur III was never flown.^{[citation needed]}

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 22 April 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 geostationary transfer orbit (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 7 September 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

The Minotaur VI is a five-stage launch vehicle proposed by Northrop Grumman that, as of 2025, has not flown. Minotaur VI is based on the Minotaur IV+, adding a second SR-118 first stage to increase performance.^[5] A further enhanced variant, Minotaur VI+, is also proposed for beyond low Earth orbit missions using an added Star 37FM sixth stage motor. For example, Minotaur VI+ can send up to 300 kilograms (660 lb) of payload to Mars.

Launch statistics

Rocket configurations

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'24

Minotaur-C
Minotaur I
Minotaur II
Minotaur II+
Minotaur IV
Minotaur IV Lite
Minotaur IV HAPS
Minotaur IV+
Minotaur V

Launch sites

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3

4

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'11

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'17

'18

'19

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'22

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'24

Launch outcomes

1

2

3

4

5

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'01

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'25

Success
Failure
Planned

Launch history

Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
1994 [edit]
1	13 March 1994 22:32	Minotaur-C	Vandenberg, SLC-576E	STEP Mission 0 and DARPASAT		USAF/DARPA^[6]^[7]	Success
1998 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
2	10 February 1998 13:20	Minotaur-C	Vandenberg, SLC-576E	GFO and Orbcomm (satellites 11,12)			Success
3	3 October 1998 10:04	Minotaur-C	Vandenberg, SLC-576E	Space Technology Experiment (STEX)		NRO	Success
1999 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
4	21 December 1999 07:13	Minotaur-C	Vandenberg, SLC-576E	KOMPSAT and ACRIMSAT			Success
2000 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
5	27 January 2000 03:03:06	Minotaur I	Vandenberg, SLC-8	JAWSat (P98-1) (FalconSat1 / ASUSat1 / OCSE / OPAL)	LEO		Success
6	12 March 2000 09:29	Minotaur-C	Vandenberg, SLC-576E	Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI)			Success
7	28 May 2000 20:00	Minotaur II	Vandenberg, LF-06	OSP-TLV Missile Defense Technology Demonstrator	Suborbital		Success
8	19 July 2000 20:09:00	Minotaur I	Vandenberg, SLC-8	MightySat II.1 (Sindri, P99-1) / MEMS 2A / MEMS 2B	LEO		Success
2001 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
9	21 September 2001 18:49	Minotaur-C	Vandenberg, SLC-576E	Orbview-4/QuikTOMS			Failure
10	4 December 2001 04:59	Minotaur II	Vandenberg, LF-06	TLV-1 IFT-7 GMDS target mission	Suborbital		Success
2002 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
11	16 March 2002 02:11	Minotaur II	Vandenberg, LF-06	TLV-2 IFT-8 GMDS target mission	Suborbital		Success
12	15 October 2002 02:01	Minotaur II	Vandenberg, LF-06	TLV-3 GMDS target mission	Suborbital		Success
13	11 December 2002 08:26	Minotaur II	Vandenberg, LF-06	TLV-4 GMDS target mission	Suborbital		Success
2004 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
14	20 May 2004 17:47	Minotaur-C	Vandenberg, SLC-576E	ROCSAT-2			Success
2005 [edit]
Flight No.	Date / time (UTC)	Rocket, Configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
15	11 April 2005 13:35:00	Minotaur I	Vandenberg, SLC-8	XSS-11	LEO		Success
16	22 September 2005 19:24:00	Minotaur I	Vandenberg, SLC-8	Streak (STP-R1)	LEO		Success
2006 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
17	15 April 2006 01:40:00	Minotaur I	Vandenberg, SLC-8	COSMIC (FORMOSAT-3)	LEO		Success
18	16 December 2006 12:00	Minotaur I	MARS, LP-0B	TacSat-2 / GeneSat-1	LEO		Success
2007 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
19	21 March 2007 04:27	Minotaur II	Vandenberg, LF-06	TLV-5 FTX-02 SBR target mission	Suborbital		Success
20	24 April 2007 06:48	Minotaur I	MARS, LP-0B	NFIRE	LEO		Success
21	23 August 2007 08:30	Minotaur II+	Vandenberg, LF-06	TLV-7 Mission 2a sensor target for NFIRE satellite	Suborbital		Success
2008 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
22	24 September 2008 06:57	Minotaur II+	Vandenberg, LF-06	TLV-8 Mission 2b sensor target for NFIRE satellite	Suborbital		Success
2009 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
23	24 February 2009 09:55	Minotaur-C	Vandenberg, SLC-576E	Orbiting Carbon Observatory^[8]			Failure
24	19 May 2009 23:55	Minotaur I	MARS, LP-0B	TacSat-3 / PharmaSat / AeroCube 3 / HawkSat I / CP6	LEO		Success
2010 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
25	22 April 2010 23:00	Minotaur IV Lite	Vandenberg, SLC-8	HTV-2a hypersonic research spacecraft	Suborbital		Success
26	26 September 2010 04:41	Minotaur IV	Vandenberg, SLC-8	SBSS	SSO		Success
27	20 November 2010 01:25	Minotaur IV HAPS	Kodiak Island, LP-1	STP-S26 (FASTRAC-A / FASTRAC-B / FalconSat-5 / FASTSAT / O/OREOS / RAX)	LEO		Success
2011 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
28	6 February 2011 12:26	Minotaur I	Vandenberg, SLC-8	NROL-66	LEO		Success
29	4 March 2011 10:09	Minotaur-C	Vandenberg, SLC-576E	Glory, KySat-1, Hermes, and Explorer-1 [PRIME]			Failure^[9]
30	30 June 2011 03:09	Minotaur I	MARS, LP-0B	ORS-1	LEO		Success
31	11 August 2011 14:45	Minotaur IV Lite	Vandenberg, SLC-8	Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2b)	Suborbital		Success
32	27 September 2011 15:49	Minotaur IV+	Kodiak Island, LP-1	TacSat-4	MEO		Success
2013 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
33	7 September 2013 03:27	Minotaur V	MARS, LP-0B	LADEE	HEO		Success
34	20 November 2013 01:15	Minotaur I	MARS, LP-0B	ORS-3 (STPSat-3 along with 28 additional cubesats)	LEO		Success^[10]^[11]
2017 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
35	26 August 2017 06:04	Minotaur IV	Cape Canaveral, SLC-46	ORS-5	LEO		Success
36	31 October 2017 21:37	Minotaur-C	Vandenberg, SLC-576E	SkySat × 6, Flock-3m × 4			Success
2020 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
37	15 July 2020 13:46	Minotaur IV	MARS, LP-0B	NROL-129 (USA 305 to USA 308)^[12]	LEO	NRO	Success
2021 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
38	15 June 2021 13:35^[13]	Minotaur I	MARS, LP-0B	NROL-111 (USA 316 to USA 318)^[14]	LEO	NRO	Success
2022 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
39	7 July 2022 06:01^[15]	Minotaur II+	Vandenberg, TP-01	Mk21A reentry vehicle^[16]	Suborbital	AFNWC	Failure
2024 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
40	18 June 2024 07:01^[17]	Minotaur I	Vandenberg, TP-01	Mk21A reentry vehicle^[18]	Suborbital	AFNWC	Success
2025 [edit]
Flight No.	Date and time (UTC)	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer	Launch outcome
40	16 April 2025 19:33^[19]^[20]	Minotaur IV	Vandenberg, SLC-8	NROL-174	LEO	NRO	Success

Planned launches

Date and time (UTC)^[21]	Rocket configuration	Launch site	Payload	Orbit	Customer
May 2025	Minotaur IV	Vandenberg, SLC-8	USSF-261S-A (EWS-OD 1)^[22]^[23]	LEO	U.S. Space Force
Sep 2025	Minotaur IV	Vandenberg, SLC-8	STPSat-7^[24]	LEO	U.S. Space Force

References

^ Stephen Clark, "Taurus rocket on the market with new name, upgrades", Spaceflight Now 24 February 2014
^ ^a ^b ^c "Minotaur". Encyclopedia Astronautix. Archived from the original on 8 May 2009.
^ "Minotaur IV". Orbital Sciences Corporation.
^ Culler, Jessica (16 June 2015). "LADEE - Lunar Atmosphere Dust and Environment Explorer". NASA. Retrieved 1 August 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "Orbital ATK" (PDF). Orbital Sciences Corporation. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
^ "DARPASAT". space.skyrocket.de. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
^ "Encyclopedia Astronautica: TAOS". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 13 June 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
^ "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. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
^ "ORS-3 and STPSat-3 Successfully Launched". Losangeles.af.mil. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
^ Krebs, Gunter (25 August 2021). "USA 305, ..., 308 (NROL 129 PL1, ..., 4)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
^ "Northrop Grumman Successfully Launches Minotaur I Rocket for the National Reconnaissance Office". Northrop Grumman. 15 June 2021. Archived from the original on 14 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
^ Krebs, Gunter (24 June 2021). "USA 316, 317, 318 (NROL 111)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
^ Scully, Janene (7 July 2022). "Missile Test Ends in Explosion Seconds After Launch from Vandenberg SFB". Noozhawk. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
^ Martinez-Pogue, Jade (6 July 2022). "Test rocket launch scheduled from Vandenberg Space Force Base Thursday morning". KEYT-TV. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
^ "Mk21A RV TEST LAUNCH SHOWCASES READINESS". Vandenberg Space Force Base. 18 June 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.^{[dead link]}
^ Hadley, Greg (18 June 2024). "Air Force, Lockheed Test New Reentry Vehicle for Sentinel ICBM". Air & Space Forces Magazine. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
^ "NROL-174 Launch Press Kit" (PDF). NRO. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
^ Jonathan McDowell [@planet4589] (17 April 2025). "Now confirmed from Space-Track data that the Apr 12 Starshield launch had 22 satellites and the Apr 16 Minotaur launch had 2 payloads" (Tweet). Retrieved 19 April 2025 – via Twitter.
^ Baylor, Michael. "Upcoming Launches: SpaceX". Next Spaceflight. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
^ Erwin, Sandra (25 May 2023). "Northrop Grumman wins $45 million Space Force contract to launch small weather satellite". SpaceNews. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
^ "Space Systems Command Awards $45.5M Launch Service Order to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation for Prototype EWS Mission". USSF Space Systems Command. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
^ "NRL LARADO Instrument to Detect Lethal Orbital Debris, Integrated on STP Satellite".

External links

The Minotaur is a family of United States solid-fuel launch vehicles repurposed from retired Minuteman and Peacekeeper model intercontinental ballistic missiles. Built by Northrop Grumman under the Space Force's Rocket Systems Launch Program, these vehicles are used for various space and test launch missions.

The Minotaur family consists of four main variants: the Minotaur I, primarily used for launching small satellites into low Earth orbit; the Minotaur II, primarily used as a suborbital target vehicle; the Minotaur IV, a small-lift launch vehicle; and the Minotaur V, capable of reaching higher orbits, including geostationary transfer orbit and trans-lunar trajectories. Minotaur I and II are derived from the Minuteman missile, while Minotaur IV, V, and the cancelled Minotaur III are based on the Peacekeeper ICBM.