Minotaur II

Minotaur II
Size
Minotaur II launch from Vandenberg
Function	Suborbital launch system
Manufacturer	Orbital Sciences (original); Northrop Grumman (current)
Country of origin	United States
Height	19.21 metres (63.0 ft)
Diameter	1.67 metres (5 ft 6 in)
Mass	36,200 kilograms (79,800 lb)
Stages	2 or 3
Capacity
Payload to 8000km S/O
Mass	400 kilograms (880 lb)

Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Vandenberg LF-06 Vandenberg TP-01
Total launches	9
Success(es)	8
First flight	28 May 2000
Last flight	7 July 2022

First stage – M55E1
Powered by	1 Solid
Maximum thrust	935 kilonewtons (210,000 lb_f)
Propellant	Solid
Second stage – SR19AJ1
Powered by	1 Solid
Maximum thrust	268 kilonewtons (60,000 lb_f)
Propellant	Solid
Third stage (Baseline) – M57A1
Powered by	1 Solid
Propellant	Solid
Third stage (Minotaur II+) – SR-73-AJ
Powered by	1 Solid
Propellant	Solid
Third stage (Heavy) – Orion 50XL
Powered by	1 Solid
Maximum thrust	118.2 kilonewtons (26,600 lb_f)
Burn time	74 seconds
Propellant	Solid

[edit on Wikidata]

Minotaur II rockets consist of the M55A1 first stage and SR19AJ1 second stage of a decommissioned Minuteman missile. The third stage varies depending on the configuration required for the payload: a Minuteman II M57A1 stage is used on the baseline configuration, whilst the Minotaur II+ uses an SR-73-AJ. The Minotaur II Lite is a two-stage configuration, without a third stage. A heavy configuration is also available, with an Orion 50XL third stage, as used on the Minotaur I. The baseline configuration can propel a 400 kilograms (880 lb) payload 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) downrange, whilst the heavy configuration can place 1,400 kilograms (3,100 lb) onto an 8,000-kilometre (5,000 mi) trajectory.

Nine Minotaur II rockets have been launched as of July 2022, with six flights using the baseline configuration and three using the Minotaur II+ configuration. Launches are conducted from Launch Facility 06 (LF-06) and Test Pad 01 (TP-01).

Launch history

Flight No.	Date (UTC)	Rocket	Payload	Launch pad	Trajectory	Result
1	May 28, 2000 20:00	Minotaur II	OSP-TLV Missile Defense Technology Demonstrator	Vandenberg LF-06	Suborbital	Success
2	December 12, 2001	Minotaur II	IFT-7 target mission	Vandenberg LF-06	Suborbital	Success
3	March 16, 2002 02:11	Minotaur II	TLV-1 IFT-8 GMDS target mission	Vandenberg LF-06	Suborbital	Success
4	October 15, 2002 02:01	Minotaur II	TLV-3 GMDS target mission	Vandenberg LF-06	Suborbital	Success
5	December 11, 2002 08:26	Minotaur II	TLV-4 GMDS target mission	Vandenberg LF-06	Suborbital	Success
6	March 20, 2007 04:27	Minotaur II	TLV-5 FTX-02 SBR target mission	Vandenberg LF-06	Suborbital	Success
7	August 23, 2007 08:30	Minotaur II+	TLV-7 Mission 2a sensor target for NFIRE satellite	Vandenberg LF-06	Suborbital	Success
8	September 24, 2008 06:57	Minotaur II+	TLV-8 Mission 2b sensor target for NFIRE satellite	Vandenberg LF-06	Suborbital	Success
9	July 7, 2022 06:01^[1]	Minotaur II+	Mk21A reentry vehicle test^[2]^[a]	Vandenberg TP-01	Suborbital	Failure

Notes

^ Reentry vehicle demonstration for the future LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile. Rocket exploded 11 seconds after launch.

References

Krebs, Gunter. "Minotaur-2 (OSP-SLV)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
Krebs, Gunter. "Minuteman Target Launch Vehicles". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-04-28.

^ 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.

Orbital launch systems

Current

Angara
- 1.2
- A5
Atlas V
Ceres
- 1
- 1S
Chollima-1
Electron
Falcon 9 Block 5
Falcon Heavy
Firefly Alpha
Gravity-1
GSLV
H-IIA
H3
Hyperbola-1
Jielong
- 1
- 3
KAIROS^†
Kaituozhe 2
Kinetica-1
Kuaizhou
- 1
- 1A
- 11
Long March
- 2C
- 2D
- 2F
- 3A
- 3B/E
- 3C
- 4B
- 4C
- 5
- 5B
- 6
- 6A
- 7
- 7A
- 8
- 11
- 11H
LVM3
Minotaur
- I
- IV
- V
- C
Nuri
OS-M1^†
Pegasus XL
Proton-M
PSLV
Qaem 100
Qased
RS1^†
Shavit 2
Simorgh
SLS
- Block 1
Soyuz-2
- 2.1a / STA
- 2.1b / STB
- 2-1v
SSLV
Starship
Tianlong-2
Unha
Vega
- original
- C
Vulcan Centaur
Zenit
- 3SL
- 3SLB
- 3F
Zhuque
- 2

In development

Antares 330
Ariane 6
Bloostar
Cyclone-4M
Epsilon S
Eris
Gravity-2
Hyperbola-2
Irtysh
Kuaizhou
- 21
- 31
Long March
- 9
- 10
- 12
Miura 5
MLV
Neutron
New Glenn
New Line 1
NGLV
OS-M
- 2
- 4
Orbex Prime
Pallas-1
Red Dwarf
SLS
- Block 1B
- Block 2
Soyuz-7
Terran R
Tianlong-3
VLM
Vega E
Zero
Zhuque
- 3
Zuljanah

Retired

Antares
- 110
- 120
- 130^†
- 230
- 230+
Ariane
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
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
- II
- III
- IV
- IV Heavy
Diamant
Dnepr
Energia
Epsilon
Europa
- I^†
- II^†
Falcon 1
Falcon 9
- v1.0
- v1.1
- v1.2 "Full Thrust"
Feng Bao 1
GSLV
- Mk I
H-I
H-II
H-IIB
Juno I
Juno II
Kaituozhe-1
Kosmos
- original
- 1
- 2/2I
- 3
- 3M
Lambda
- 4S
LauncherOne
Long March
- 1
- 1D^†
- 2A
- 2E
- 3
- 3B
- 4A
Mu
- 4S
- 3C
- 3H
- 3S
- 3SII
- V
N1^†
N-I
N-II
Naro-1
Paektusan^†
Pilot-2^†
R-7
- Luna
- Molniya
  - M
  - L
- Polyot
- Soyuz
  - original
  - FG
  - L
  - M
  - U
  - U2
- Soyuz/Vostok
- Sputnik
- Voskhod
- Vostok
  - L
  - K
  - 2
  - 2M
R-29
- Shtil'
- Volna^†
Rocket 3
Safir
- 1
- 1A
- 1B
Saturn
- I
- IB
- V
Scout
- X-1
- Blue Scout II^†
- X-2^†
- X-2M
- X-3
- X-3M
- X-4
- X-2B^†
- B
- A
- B-1
- D-1
- A-1
- E-1
- F-1
- G-1
Shavit
- original
- 1
SLV
Space Shuttle
SPARK^†
Sparta
SS-520
Start-1
Terran 1^†
Thor
- Able
- Ablestar
  - 1
  - 2
- Agena
  - A
  - B
  - D
- Burner
  - 1
  - 2
- Delta
- DSV-2U
Thorad-Agena
- SLV-2G
- SLV-2H
Titan
- II GLV
- IIIA
- IIIB
- IIIC
- IIID
- IIIE
- 34D
- 23G
- CT-3
- IV
Tsyklon
- R-36-O
- original
- 2
- 3
Universal Rocket
- UR-500 Proton
- Proton-K
- Rokot
- Strela
Vanguard
VLS-1^†
Zenit
- 2
- 2M
- 2FG
Zhuque
- 1^†

Classes

This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future
Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

v t e Orbital launch systems developed in the United States
Active	Atlas V**^†† Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Minotaur I IV V C Pegasus XL RS1^† SLS Block 1 Starship Vulcan Centaur
In development	Antares 330 Daytona Firefly Beta New Glenn Neutron Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Terran R
Retired	Antares 110/120/130/230/230+^††† 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 II III IV IV Heavy Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" H-I* Juno I Juno II LauncherOne N-I* N-II* Pilot Rocket 3 Saturn I IB V Scout Space Shuttle SPARK Sparta Terran 1 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 ** - uses Russian engines ^† - never succeeded ^†† - no new orders accepted ^††† - used Ukrainian first stage