Minotaur IV

Minotaur IV
	Launch of the first Minotaur IV Lite
Function	Expendable launch system
Manufacturer	Orbital Sciences
Country of origin	United States
Size
Height	23.88 metres (78.3 ft)
Diameter	2.34 metres (7 ft 8 in)
Mass	86,300 kg
Stages	4
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	1735 kg (28.5 deg, 185 km)
Associated rockets
Family	Minotaur
Derivative work	Minotaur V
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	SLC-8, Vandenberg AFB; LP-0B, MARS; LP-1, Kodiak
Total launches	1
Success(es)	1
First flight	22 April 2010
First stage – SR-118
Powered by	1 Solid
Maximum thrust	2,200 kilonewtons (490,000 lbf)
Propellant	Solid
Second stage – SR-119
Powered by	1 Solid
Maximum thrust	1,365 kilonewtons (307,000 lbf)
Burn time	54 seconds
Propellant	Solid
Third stage – SR-120
Powered by	1 Solid
Maximum thrust	329 kilonewtons (74,000 lbf)
Burn time	62 seconds
Propellant	Solid
Fourth stage (Baseline) – Orion-38
Powered by	1 Solid
Maximum thrust	32.2 kilonewtons (7,200 lbf)
Burn time	67.7 seconds
Propellant	Solid
Fourth stage (Optional) – Star-48V
Powered by	1 Solid
Maximum thrust	68.6 kilonewtons (15,400 lbf)
Burn time	84.1 seconds
Propellant	Solid
	[edit on Wikidata]

Template:Launching/Minotaur

Minotaur IV, also known as Peacekeeper SLV and OSP-2 PK is an active expendable launch system derived from the Peacekeeper missile. It is operated by Orbital Sciences Corporation, and made its maiden flight on 22 April 2010, carrying the HTV-2a Hypersonic Test Vehicle.^[1]^[2]^[3] The first orbital launch is currently scheduled to occur on 8 July 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).^[4]^[5] 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, is also under development.

Minotaur IV launches will be conducted from SLC-8 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, LP-0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, and 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	Hypersonic Test Vehicle
Scheduled Launches
8 July 2010^[6]	Minotaur IV	Vandenberg SLC-8	SBSS	LEO
1 September 2010^[6]	Minotaur IV HAPS	Kodiak LP-1	STP S26 FASTRAC-A FASTRAC-B FalconSat-5 FASTSAT O/OREOS RAX	LEO		Includes a Hydrazine Auxiliary Propulsion System (HAPS) to take the vehicle to a secondary orbit
4rd Q 2010	Minotaur IV+	Kodiak LP-1	TacSat-4	LEO		First Minotaur IV+ launch
1st Q 2011	Minotaur IV Lite	Vandenberg SLC-8	HTV-2b	Suborbital
4th Q 2011	Minotaur IV Lite	Vandenberg SLC-8	CSM	Suborbital
3rd Q 2012	Minotaur IV	Vandenberg SLC-8	TacSat-5	LEO		Might launch on a Minotaur I

References

^ "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.
^ 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.
^ ^a ^b Schaub, Michael B.; Schwartz, Patrick C. "Launches". Mission Set Database. NASA/Honeywell-TSI. Retrieved 23 April 2010.

This rocketry article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "Orbital Successfully Launches First Minotaur IV Rocket for U.S. Air Force" (Press release). Orbital Sciences Corporation. April 27, 2010.

[2] "Air Force Space Officials Prepare To Launch First Minotaur IV". Air Force News Service. April 16, 2010.

[3] Graham, William (April 22, 2010). "First Minotaur IV launches with Hypersonic Test Vehicle". NASAspaceflight.com.

[4] "Minotaur IV Fact Sheet" (PDF). Orbital Sciences Corporation. 2010. Retrieved 2009-03-04.

[5] Krebs, Gunter. "Minotaur-3/-4/-5 (OSP-2 Peacekeeper SLV)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-03-04.

[MSDB-6] Schaub, Michael B.; Schwartz, Patrick C. "Launches". Mission Set Database. NASA/Honeywell-TSI. Retrieved 23 April 2010.

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v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 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 12 LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Deca Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 NGLV Nova 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 RS1^† 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 Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
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 SLS Block 1 Vulcan Centaur
In development	Antares 330 Daytona I MLV New Glenn Neutron Nova Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Starship 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 RS1^† 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