![Northrop Grumman’s Minotaur 1 rocket launches three classified NRO payloads]()
A Northrop Grumman Minotaur 1 launched three National Reconnaissance Office payloads on June 15 at 9:35 a.m. Eastern from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
![Northrop Grumman Minotaur 4 launches NRO mission, its first from Virginia spaceport]()
This was the NRO’s 54th launch since 1996 and its first launch on a Minotaur 4.
![Northrop Grumman seeking to cut costs on small launch vehicles]()
Faced with growing competition from startups entering the field, Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems is looking to reduce costs on its existing Pegasus and Minotaur rockets.
![Minotaur launches 10 satellites for Planet]()
An Orbital ATK Minotaur-C rocket successfully launched two sets of satellites for Earth observation company Planet Oct. 31 in what was effectively the return to flight of a vehicle that failed in its two previous missions.
![Minotaur 4’s canceled commercial cubesat rideshares could spark policy changes]()
Following a decision to pull eight Spire commercial cubesats from an Orbital ATK Minotaur 4 launch from Cape Canaveral Aug. 26 carrying a military payload, the U.S. Air Force says it and other government agencies are crafting clear procedures on how to handle such future rideshare agreements.
![Minotaur launches amid rekindled debate over surplus ICBM motors]()
An Orbital ATK Minotaur 4 rocket lifted off from Cape Canveral, Florida, early Saturday morning, carrying the U.S. Defense Department's Operationally Responsive Space (ORS)-5 satellite. The launch comes as a debate is flaring up again about whether companies should be able to use converted surplus intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) motors to launch commercial satellites
![New U.S. Military Weather Satellites Could Launch on Minotaur Rockets]()
A planned new generation of polar-orbiting U.S. military weather satellites could be small enough to launch on Minotaur rockets, as opposed to the much larger — and far more expensive — Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets.
![Skybox Taps Orbital Sciences for 2015 Minotaur Launch]()
Orbital Scienecs said the Minotaur-C is a commercial variant of the Minotaur rocket that the company has been using for U.S. government satellite launches since 2000. The company said it is designing a new SkySat satellite dispenser that will hold up to six Skybox satellites per launch
![Climate Scientists Can Breathe Easier Following Minotaur Launch of Air Force Experimental Satellite]()
When NASA’s Glory spacecraft plunged into the Pacific Ocean in 2011, scientists were concerned they would have no way to prevent a lengthy gap in their observations of solar energy, the primary driver of Earth’s climate.
Astrotech reported higher revenue and operating profit for the three months ending Sept. 30 compared to a year ago on the strength of increased launch services to commercial customers.
![Minotaur Rocket Lofts 29 Satellites from Virginia Spaceport]()
The U.S Air Force successfully launched an experimental Defense Department satellite and 28 secondary payloads Nov. 19 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.
Galle also addressed TAS’s recent settlement with the U.S. State Department that ended a years-long investigation by U.S. authorities of TAS’s sales of communications satellites to China, or to customers that use China’s Long March launch vehicle.
The U.S. Air Force has ordered a Minotaur 1 launch vehicle from Orbital Sciences Corp. to support a 2013 launch the ORS-3 Enabler mission for the Defense Department’s Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office, according to an Orbital Sciences press release issued April 3.
![TacSat-4 Launched by Minotaur 4 Rocket]()
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy’s experimental Tactical Satellite (TacSat)-4 communications satellite was successfully launched Sept. 27 aboard a Minotaur 4 launch vehicle from the Alaska Aerospace Development Corp.’s Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island, according to the U.S. Air Force.
The U.S. Air Force plans to launch the ORS-1 intelligence and surveillance satellite June 28 atop a Minotaur 1 rocket from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, an Air Force official said June 24.
![NASA Could Save Millions by Using Minotaur, IG Says]()
NASA could save millions of dollars by using Minotaur rockets to launch the Soil Moisture Active-Passive (SMAP) spacecraft and several other medium-class science missions planned through 2020, according to a Feb. 17 report by the NASA Office of Inspector General.
![Classified NRO Satellite Launched by Minotaur 1]()
The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) on Feb. 6 successfully launched a classified small satellite aboard a Minotaur 1 rocket out of Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., the NRO announced Feb. 6.
![Minotaur Rocket Loaded with Small Satellites Launched from Kodiak Complex]()
NEW YORK — A rocket carrying seven different satellites, including one that will attempt to deploy a small solar sail into orbit, successfully blasted off from an island in Alaska Nov. 19.
![A New Minotaur Delay for Launch of SBSS]()
Launch of the Air Force’s first Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) satellite has been delayed again by new problems with the service’s Minotaur 4 launch vehicle, according to a July 1 Air Force press release.
![1st Minotaur 4 Launch Assigned New Payload]()
Amid technical problems and delays with its new Minotaur 4 rocket, the U.S. Air Force has swapped payloads for the launcher’s planned April debut, opting to place a suborbital hypersonic demonstration vehicle ahead of a critical space surveillance satellite on the manifest.
