Minotaur-1
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The Minotaur I, or just Minotaur is an American expendable launch system derived from the Minuteman II missile. 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.
Minotaur I rockets consist of the M55A1 first stage and SR19 second stage of a decommissioned Minuteman missile. The Orion 50XL and Orion 38, from the Pegasus rocket, are used as third and fourth stages. A HAPS upper stage can also be flown if greater precision is needed, or the rocket needs to be able to manoeuvre to deploy multiple payloads. It can place up to 580 kilograms (1,300 lb) of payload into a 185-kilometre (115 mi) low Earth orbit at 28.5 degrees of inclination.
Initially Minotaur I launches were 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.
Due to US laws prohibiting the sale of Government equipment, Minotaur rockets are only used to launch satellites for the US Government, and are not available to commercial customers.
[edit] Launch history
The CubeSat history launch with Minotaur I is quite short for the moment with only one launch on 19th May 2009 (PharmaSat-1, Aerocube 3, CP6, HawkSat-1).
| Date | Payload | Launch Pad | Trajectory | Result |
| 27th January 2000 | JAWSat (P98-1) (FalconSat1 / ASUSat1 / OCSE / OPAL) | Vandenberg SLC-8 | LEO | success |
| 19th July 2000 | MightySat II.1 (Sindri, P99-1) / MEMS 2A / MEMS 2B | Vandenberg SLC-8 | LEO | success |
| 11st April 2005 | XSS-11 | Vandenberg SLC-8 | LEO | success |
| 23rd September 2005 | Streak (STP-R1) | Vandenberg SLC-8 | LEO | success |
| 15th Avril 2006 | COSMIC (FORMOSAT-3) | Vandenberg SLC-8 | LEO | success |
| 16th December 2006 | TacSat-2 / GeneSat-1 | MARS LP-0B | LEO | success |
| 24th April 2007 | NFIRE | MARS LP-0B | LEO | success |
| 19th May 2009 | TacSat-3 + 4 CubeSats (PharmaSat-1, Aerocube 3, CP6, HawkSat-1) | MARS LP-0B | LEO | success |
[edit] References
Wikipedia article : Minotaur-1
