Minotaur IV

Minotaur IV
Size
Launch of the first Minotaur IV Lite
Function	Expendable launch system
Manufacturer	Orbital Sciences
Cost per launch	$50 million^[1]
Height	23.88 meters (78.3 ft)
Diameter	2.34 meters (7 ft 8 in)
Mass	86,300 kg
Stages	4
Capacity
Payload to LEO	1735 kg (28.5 deg, 185 km)
Associated rockets
Family	Minotaur
Derivatives	Minotaur V
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	SLC-8, Vandenberg AFB LP-0B, MARS LP-1, Kodiak SLC-46, Cape Canaveral
Total launches	5
Successes	5
First flight	22 April 2010

First stage - SR-118
Engines	1 Solid
Thrust	2,200 kN (490,000 lb_f)
Fuel	Solid
Second stage - SR-119
Engines	1 Solid
Thrust	1,365 kN (307,000 lb_f)
Burn time	54 seconds
Fuel	Solid
Third stage - SR-120
Engines	1 Solid
Thrust	329 kN (74,000 lb_f)
Burn time	62 seconds
Fuel	Solid
Fourth stage (Baseline) - Orion 38
Engines	1 Solid
Thrust	32.2 kN (7,200 lb_f)
Burn time	67.7 seconds
Fuel	Solid
Fourth stage (Optional) - Star-48V
Engines	1 Solid
Thrust	68.6 kN (15,400 lb_f)
Burn time	84.1 seconds
Fuel	Solid

Minotaur IV, also known as Peacekeeper SLV and OSP-2 PK is an active expendable launch system derived from the LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM. It is operated by Orbital Sciences Corporation, and made its maiden flight on 22 April 2010, carrying the HTV-2a Hypersonic Test Vehicle.^[2]^[3]^[4] The first orbital launch occurred on 26 September 2010 with the SBSS satellite for the United States Air Force.

The Minotaur IV vehicle consists of four stages and is capable of placing 1,735 kilograms (3,825 lb) of payload into a Low Earth orbit (LEO).^[5]^[6] It uses the first three stages of the Peacekeeper missile, combined with a new upper stage. On the baseline version, the fourth stage is an Orion 38. However a higher performance variant, designated Minotaur IV+, uses a Star-48V instead. A three-stage configuration (no Orion-38), designated the Minotaur IV Lite, is available for Suborbital trajectories. A five-stage derivative, the Minotaur V, made its maiden flight on 7 Sep 2013.

Minotaur IV launches will be conducted from SLC-8 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, LP-0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, SLC-46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Kodiak Launch Complex Pad 1 of the Kodiak Launch Complex.

Launches

Date/Time (UTC)	Variant	Launch Site	Payload	Trajectory	Outcome	Remarks
22 April 2010 23:00	Minotaur IV Lite	Vandenberg SLC-8	HTV-2a	Suborbital	Successful	Successful launch, but payload failed
26 September 2010^[7] 04:41	Minotaur IV	Vandenberg SLC-8	SBSS	SSO	Successful
20 November 2010 01:25^[7]	Minotaur IV HAPS	Kodiak LP-1	STPSat-2 FASTRAC-A FASTRAC-B FalconSat-5 FASTSAT O/OREOS RAX NanoSail-D2	LEO	Successful	STP-S26 launch. Included a Hydrazine Auxiliary Propulsion System (HAPS) to take the vehicle to a secondary orbit after placing payloads into the primary orbit.
11 August 2011 14:45^[8]	Minotaur IV Lite	Vandenberg SLC-8	HTV-2b	Suborbital	Successful	Successful launch, but payload failed
27 September 2011 15:49	Minotaur IV+	Kodiak LP-1	TacSat-4	LEO	Successful	First Minotaur IV+ launch
Scheduled Launches
2017^[9]	Minotaur IV Orion 38	Cape Canaveral SLC-46	ORS-5	LEO^[9]
TBD	Minotaur IV	Vandenberg SLC-8	TacSat-5	LEO		Might launch on a Minotaur I
TBD	Minotaur IV Lite	Vandenberg SLC-8	CSM	Suborbital

STP-S26

The third Minotaur IV launch, which was also known as STP-S26, deployed eight payloads. The 26th small launch vehicle mission in STP's 40-year history of flying DoD space experiments, STP-S26 was intended to extend previous standard interface development efforts, implementing a number of capabilities aimed at enabling responsive access to space for small experimental satellites and payloads. STP-S26 launched at 01:45 UTC on 20 November 2010 from the Kodiak Launch Complex. The launch facility contractor was Alaska Aerospace Corporation (AAC). The payloads were released in a 650-kilometer (400 mi) orbit, before the HAPS upper stage was demonstrated by deploying two ballast payloads into a 1,200 km (750 mi) orbit.

The primary objective of the STP-S26 launch was to deploy STPSat-2, whilst demonstrating the ability of the Minotaur IV to carry additional payloads, by deploying FASTSAT, FASTRAC, RAX, O/OREOS and FalconSat-5. A Hydrazine Auxiliary Propulsion System upper stage was flown aboard the Minotaur to demonstrate its ability to deploy payloads to multiple orbits, however only mass simulators were deployed after the HAPS burn.

The launch marked the first flight of a STP-SIV (Standard Interface Vehicle) satellite, the first use of the Multi Mission Satellite Operations Center Ground System Architecture (MMSOC GSA), the first flight of the Minotaur IV's Multi-payload Adapter (MPA), the first use of a HAPS to obtain multiple orbits on a Minotaur IV flight, the first Minotaur launch from Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC), and the first deployment of CubeSats from a Minotaur IV viaPoly-PicoSatellite Orbital Deployers (P-Pods).

References

↑ Stephen Clark (November 18, 2010). "Minotaur rocket poised to send research to new heights". Spaceflight Now.
↑ "Orbital Successfully Launches First Minotaur IV Rocket for U.S. Air Force" (Press release). Orbital Sciences Corporation. April 27, 2010.
↑ "Air Force Space Officials Prepare To Launch First Minotaur IV". Air Force News Service. April 16, 2010. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012.
↑ Graham, William (April 22, 2010). "First Minotaur IV launches with Hypersonic Test Vehicle". NASAspaceflight.com.
↑ "Minotaur IV Fact Sheet" (PDF). Orbital Sciences Corporation. 2010. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
↑ Krebs, Gunter. "Minotaur-3/-4/-5 (OSP-2 Peacekeeper SLV)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
1 2 Schaub, Michael B.; Schwartz, Patrick C. "Launches". Mission Set Database. NASA/Honeywell-TSI. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
↑ Hope, Dan. "DARPA Readies Hypersonic Aircraft for Mach 20 Launch Test". Retrieved 10 Aug 2011.
1 2 Clark, Stephen. "Minotaur rocket selected to launch military satellite in 2017". Spaceflight Now.

External links

Orbital launch systems

Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Antares Ariane 5 Atlas V Delta II IV Dnepr-1 Epsilon Falcon 9 full thrust GSLV GSLV Mk III H-IIA H-IIB Kuaizhou Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B 3C 4B 4C 6 11 Minotaur I IV V C Pegasus Proton-M PSLV Rokot Safir Shavit Strela Soyuz U FG 2 2.1a 2.1b 2-1v Unha Vega Zenit 2M 3SL 3SLB 3F

In development	Angara A5P A5V Ariane 6 Athena Ic IIc III Ausroc IV Electron Falcon Heavy Firefly α FT-1 H3 Haas KZ-11 Long March 5 7 8 9 LauncherOne Mayak Naga-1 Naro-2 OREL RPS (420, 550) Simorgh SLS Southern Cross Soyuz-5 SPARK Tronador II ULV VLM Vulcan

Retired	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 III Diamant Energia Europa Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 Feng Bao 1 H-I H-II Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos 1 2I 3 3M Lambda 4S Long March 1 2A 2E 3 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1 N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan Pilot Proton UR-500 K R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz L M U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna Saturn I IB V INT-21 Scout SLV Space Shuttle Sparta 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 2 3 Vanguard Zenit-2

United States orbital launch systems

Active	Antares Atlas V Delta II IV Falcon 9 Full Thrust Minotaur I IV V C Pegasus

In development	Athena Ic IIc III Falcon Heavy SLS SPARK Vulcan

Retired	Ares I V 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 III Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 H-I* Juno I Juno II N-I* N-II* Pilot Saturn I IB V INT-21 Scout Shuttle 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

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Minotaur IV

Launches

STP-S26

See also

References

External links