Minotaur (rocket family)

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The Minotaur is a family of United States solid-fuel launch vehicles derived from retired Minuteman and Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). Built by Northrop Grumman under the U.S. Space Force's Rocket Systems Launch Program, the vehicles are used for orbital and suborbital missions.

The Minotaur family consists of four primary variants: the Minotaur I, used for launching small satellites into low Earth orbit; the Minotaur II, used primarily as a suborbital target vehicle; the Minotaur IV, a small-lift orbital launch vehicle; and the Minotaur V and Minotaur VI, capable of higher-energy missions including geostationary transfer orbit and trans-lunar trajectories. Minotaur I and II are derived from the LGM-30 Minuteman ICBM, while Minotaur IV, V, VI and the cancelled Minotaur III are based on the LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM.

Vehicles

Minotaur-C (Taurus)

File:Minotaur C launch (crop zoom).jpg
Minotaur-C

Template:Main article The Taurus launch vehicle, later renamed[1] Minotaur-C (for "Minotaur-Commercial"), was the first of the Minotaur family and the first ground-launched orbital booster developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC). It was derived by adding a solid booster stage to the air-launched Pegasus rocket.

The first flight, sponsored by DARPA, occurred in 1994. Following a series of failures between 2001 and 2011, the vehicle was rebranded as Minotaur-C in 2014. Due to restrictions on the commercial use of government-furnished hardware, Minotaur-C is the only Minotaur vehicle available for commercial launches.[citation needed]

Minotaur I

File:NFIRE1.jpg
Minotaur I

Template:Main article The original Minotaur launch vehicle consists of an M55A1 first stage, SR19 second stage, Orion 50XL third stage, Orion 38 fourth stage, and an optional HAPS fifth stage for velocity trimming and multiple payload deployment. It can deliver 580 kilograms (1,280 lb) to a 185 kilometres (115 mi) orbit at 28.5° inclination from Cape Canaveral, or 310 kilograms (680 lb) to a 740 kilometres (460 mi) Sun-synchronous orbit from Vandenberg.[2]

Minotaur II

File:Minotaur-2 1.jpg
Minotaur II

Template:Main article The Minotaur II is a suborbital target vehicle derived from the Minuteman II missile, incorporating Orbital guidance and control systems. It consists of an M55A1 first stage, SR19 second stage, and M57 third stage, and can carry a payload of 460 kilograms (1,010 lb) on a 6,700 kilometres (4,200 mi) suborbital trajectory.[2]

Minotaur III

Template:Main article The Minotaur III was a proposed suborbital target vehicle consisting of an SR118 first stage, SR119 second stage, SR120 third stage, and Super HAPS fourth stage. It was designed to carry 3,060 kilograms (6,750 lb) on a 6,700 kilometres (4,200 mi) suborbital trajectory.[2] Development was cancelled and the vehicle was never flown.[citation needed]

Minotaur IV

File:Minotaur-4-Lite HTV-2a 2.jpg
Minotaur IV

Template:Main article The Minotaur IV combines decommissioned Peacekeeper solid rocket motors with technologies from other Orbital-built launch vehicles, including Minotaur I, Pegasus, and Taurus. It consists of an SR118 first stage, SR119 second stage, SR120 third stage, and Orion 38 fourth stage. It can deliver 1,735 kilograms (3,825 lb) to a 185 kilometres (115 mi) orbit at 28.5° inclination from Cape Canaveral.

The first launch occurred on April 22, 2010, from Vandenberg in California.[3] The vehicle has also been used in support of the U.S. Air Force's Conventional Prompt Global Strike (CPGS) program.

Minotaur V

File:Minotaur V carrying LADEE at MARS Pad 0B 2013-09-04.jpg
Minotaur V

Template:Main article The Minotaur V is a five-stage variant based on the Minotaur IV+, incorporating an additional upper stage for missions to geostationary transfer orbit, lunar trajectories, and interplanetary destinations.

NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) was launched on the first Minotaur V from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 03:27 UTC on September 7, 2013. The vehicle placed LADEE into a highly elliptical orbit to enable phasing for lunar transfer.[4]

Minotaur VI

Template:Main article The Minotaur VI is a proposed five-stage launch vehicle developed by Northrop Grumman that, as of 2025, has not flown. It is based on the Minotaur IV+, with the addition of a second SR-118 first stage to increase performance.[5] An enhanced variant, Minotaur VI+, is also proposed for beyond low Earth orbit missions, incorporating an additional Star 37FM sixth stage. This configuration is projected to deliver up to 300 kilograms (660 lb) to Mars.

Launch statistics

Rocket configurations

1
2
3
4
5
'94
'95
'96
'97
'98
'99
'00
'01
'02
'03
'04
'05
'06
'07
'08
'09
'10
'11
'12
'13
'14
'15
'16
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
'23
'24
  •   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
'00
'01
'02
'03
'04
'05
'06
'07
'08
'09
'10
'11
'12
'13
'14
'15
'16
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
'23
'24

Launch outcomes

1
2
3
4
5
'94
'95
'96
'97
'98
'99
'00
'01
'02
'03
'04
'05
'06
'07
'08
'09
'10
'11
'12
'13
'14
'15
'16
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
'23
'24
'25
  •   Success
  •   Failure
  •   Planned

Launch history

1994

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
1 March 13, 1994
22:32 		Minotaur-C Vandenberg, SLC-576E STEP Mission 0 and DARPASAT USAF/DARPA[6][7] Template:Success

1998

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
2 February 10, 1998
13:20 		Minotaur-C Vandenberg, SLC-576E GFO and Orbcomm (satellites 11,12) Template:Success
3 October 3, 1998
10:04 		Minotaur-C Vandenberg, SLC-576E Space Technology Experiment (STEX) NRO Template:Success

1999

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
4 December 21, 1999
07:13 		Minotaur-C Vandenberg, SLC-576E KOMPSAT and ACRIMSAT Template:Success

2000

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
5 January 27, 2000
03:03:06 		Minotaur I Vandenberg, SLC-8 JAWSat (P98-1) (FalconSat1 / ASUSat1 / OCSE / OPAL) LEO Template:Success
6 March 12, 2000
09:29 		Minotaur-C Vandenberg, SLC-576E Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI) Template:Success
7 May 28, 2000
20:00 		Minotaur II Vandenberg, LF-06 OSP-TLV Missile Defense Technology Demonstrator Suborbital Template:Success
8 July 19, 2000
20:09:00 		Minotaur I Vandenberg, SLC-8 MightySat II.1 (Sindri, P99-1) / MEMS 2A / MEMS 2B LEO Template:Success

2001

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
9 September 21, 2001
18:49 		Minotaur-C Vandenberg, SLC-576E Orbview-4/QuikTOMS Failure
10 December 4, 2001
04:59 		Minotaur II Vandenberg, LF-06 TLV-1 IFT-7 GMDS target mission Suborbital Template:Success

2002

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
11 March 16, 2002
02:11 		Minotaur II Vandenberg, LF-06 TLV-2 IFT-8 GMDS target mission Suborbital Template:Success
12 October 15, 2002
02:01 		Minotaur II Vandenberg, LF-06 TLV-3 GMDS target mission Suborbital Template:Success
13 December 11, 2002
08:26 		Minotaur II Vandenberg, LF-06 TLV-4 GMDS target mission Suborbital Template:Success

2004

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
14 May 20, 2004
17:47 		Minotaur-C Vandenberg, SLC-576E ROCSAT-2 Template:Success

2005

Flight No. Date / time (UTC) Rocket,
Configuration 		Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
15 April 11, 2005
13:35:00 		Minotaur I Vandenberg, SLC-8 XSS-11 LEO Template:Success
16 September 22, 2005
19:24:00 		Minotaur I Vandenberg, SLC-8 Streak (STP-R1) LEO Template:Success

2006

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
17 April 15, 2006
01:40:00 		Minotaur I Vandenberg, SLC-8 COSMIC (FORMOSAT-3) LEO Template:Success
18 December 16, 2006
12:00 		Minotaur I MARS, LP-0B TacSat-2 / GeneSat-1 LEO Template:Success

2007

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
19 March 21, 2007
04:27 		Minotaur II Vandenberg, LF-06 TLV-5 FTX-02 SBR target mission Suborbital Template:Success
20 April 24, 2007
06:48 		Minotaur I MARS, LP-0B NFIRE LEO Template:Success
21 August 23, 2007
08:30 		Minotaur II+ Vandenberg, LF-06 TLV-7 Mission 2a sensor target for NFIRE satellite Suborbital Template:Success

2008

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
22 September 24, 2008
06:57 		Minotaur II+ Vandenberg, LF-06 TLV-8 Mission 2b sensor target for NFIRE satellite Suborbital Template:Success

2009

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
23 February 24, 2009
09:55 		Minotaur-C Vandenberg, SLC-576E Orbiting Carbon Observatory[8] Failure
24 May 19, 2009
23:55 		Minotaur I MARS, LP-0B TacSat-3 / PharmaSat / AeroCube 3 / HawkSat I / CP6 LEO Template:Success

2010

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
25 April 22, 2010
23:00 		Minotaur IV Lite Vandenberg, SLC-8 HTV-2a hypersonic research spacecraft Suborbital Template:Success
26 September 26, 2010
04:41 		Minotaur IV Vandenberg, SLC-8 SBSS SSO Template:Success
27 November 20, 2010
01:25 		Minotaur IV HAPS Kodiak Island, LP-1 STP-S26 (FASTRAC-A / FASTRAC-B / FalconSat-5 / FASTSAT / O/OREOS / RAX) LEO Template:Success

2011

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
28 February 6, 2011
12:26 		Minotaur I Vandenberg, SLC-8 NROL-66 LEO Template:Success
29 March 4, 2011
10:09 		Minotaur-C Vandenberg, SLC-576E Glory, KySat-1, Hermes, and Explorer-1 [PRIME] Failure[9]
30 June 30, 2011
03:09 		Minotaur I MARS, LP-0B ORS-1 LEO Template:Success
31 August 11, 2011
14:45 		Minotaur IV Lite Vandenberg, SLC-8 Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2b) Suborbital Template:Success
32 September 27, 2011
15:49 		Minotaur IV+ Kodiak Island, LP-1 TacSat-4 MEO Template:Success

2013

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
33 September 7, 2013
03:27 		Minotaur V MARS, LP-0B LADEE HEO Template:Success
34 November 20, 2013
01:15 		Minotaur I MARS, LP-0B ORS-3 (STPSat-3 along with 28 additional cubesats) LEO Template:Success[10][11]

2017

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
35 August 26, 2017
06:04 		Minotaur IV Cape Canaveral, SLC-46 ORS-5 LEO Template:Success
36 October 31, 2017
21:37 		Minotaur-C Vandenberg, SLC-576E SkySat × 6, Flock-3m × 4 Template:Success

2020

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
37 July 15, 2020
13:46 		Minotaur IV MARS, LP-0B NROL-129 (USA 305 to USA 308)[12] LEO NRO Template:Success

2021

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
38 June 15, 2021
13:35[13] 		Minotaur I MARS, LP-0B NROL-111 (USA 316 to USA 318)[14] LEO NRO Template:Success

2022

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
39 July 7, 2022
06:01[15] 		Minotaur II+ Vandenberg, TP-01 Mk21A reentry vehicle[16] Suborbital AFNWC Failure

2024

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
40 June 18, 2024
07:01[17] 		Minotaur I Vandenberg, TP-01 Mk21A reentry vehicle[18] Suborbital AFNWC Template:Success

2025

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 Template:Success

2026

Flight No. Date and time (UTC) Rocket configuration Launch site Payload Orbit Customer Launch
outcome
40 7 April 2026, 11:33[21] Minotaur IV Vandenberg, SLC-8 STPSat-7 LEO United States Space Force Template:Success

Planned launches

Date/Time (UTC) Variant Launch site Payload Trajectory Remarks
NET 2026 Minotaur IV Vandenberg, [[Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 8|SLCTemplate:Nbhyph8]] EWS-OD 1 LEO USSF-261S-A mission[22]
TBD Minotaur IV Lite Vandenberg, [[Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 8|SLCTemplate:Nbhyph8]] Conventional Strike Missile (CSM) Suborbital
TBD Minotaur IV ?

LEO

ORS mission
TBD Minotaur IV ?

LEO

ORS mission

See also

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  • Dnepr, a converted Soviet ICBM often used for commercial satellite launches
  • Modified Minotaur IV (Ascent Abort-2), Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2), was a suborbital flight to test the Launch Abort System (LAS) of NASA's Orion spacecraft. The suborbital flight used a modified Minotaur IV, launched July 2, 2019, at 11:00 UTC from CCAFS SLC-46. The suborbital flight was a success.

References

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  1. ^ Stephen Clark, "Taurus rocket on the market with new name, upgrades", Spaceflight Now, February 24, 2014
  2. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Minotaur". Encyclopedia Astronautix. Archived from the original on May 8, 2009.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Minotaur IV". Orbital Sciences Corporation.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Culler, Jessica (June 16, 2015). "LADEE - Lunar Atmosphere Dust and Environment Explorer". NASA. Retrieved August 1, 2017. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Orbital ATK" (PDF). Orbital Sciences Corporation. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."DARPASAT". space.skyrocket.de. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Encyclopedia Astronautica: TAOS". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."OCO". Orbital Sciences Corporation.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Taurus rocket nose shroud dooms another NASA satellite". Spaceflight Now, March 2011.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Powell, Rebecca (April 16, 2015). "Air Force Minotaur Rocket Launching from Virginia November 19". Nasa.gov. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."ORS-3 and STPSat-3 Successfully Launched". Losangeles.af.mil. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Krebs, Gunter (August 25, 2021). "USA 305, ..., 308 (NROL 129 PL1, ..., 4)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Northrop Grumman Successfully Launches Minotaur I Rocket for the National Reconnaissance Office". Northrop Grumman. June 15, 2021. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Krebs, Gunter (June 24, 2021). "USA 316, 317, 318 (NROL 111)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Scully, Janene (July 7, 2022). "Missile Test Ends in Explosion Seconds After Launch from Vandenberg SFB". Noozhawk. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Martinez-Pogue, Jade (July 6, 2022). "Test rocket launch scheduled from Vandenberg Space Force Base Thursday morning". KEYT-TV. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Mk21A RV TEST LAUNCH SHOWCASES READINESS". Vandenberg Space Force Base. June 18, 2024. Retrieved June 29, 2024.[dead link]
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Hadley, Greg (June 18, 2024). "Air Force, Lockheed Test New Reentry Vehicle for Sentinel ICBM". Air & Space Forces Magazine. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."NROL-174 Launch Press Kit" (PDF). NRO. Retrieved April 19, 2025.
  20. ^ Script error: No such module "cite tweet".
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Erwin, Sandra (April 22, 2023). "Astra wins $11.5 million contract to launch military experimental payloads". SpaceNews.com. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Space Systems Command Awards $45.5M Launch Service Order to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation for Prototype EWS Mission". NASASpaceFlight. May 25, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2023.

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