A solid-fueled Northrop Grumman Minotaur 4 rocket vaulted into orbit Wednesday from Virginia’s Eastern Shore and deployed four top secret spacecraft for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency, extending the program’s success record ahead of three more Minotaur missions planned in 2021.The 78-foot-tall (23.8-meter) launcher fired away from pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia at 9:46 a.m. EDT (1346 GMT) Wednesday after a 46-minute delay to wait for fishing boats to clear a hazard area near the launch site.Riding a half-million pounds of thrust, the Minotaur 4 darted into a mostly sunny sky at breathtaking speed and broke the sound barrier just 17 seconds after liftoff.Three solid-fueled rocket motors stockpiled from the U.S. Air Force’s retired Peacekeeper nuclear missile program powered the Minotaur 4 rocket into space. They can tailor the mission just the way they want, and then we can provide that service to them.”The NRO has booked two more satellite launches on Northrop Grumman Minotaur rockets.A classified payload is scheduled to take off on a Minotaur 1 rocket in the second quarter of 2021 on the NROL-111 mission. Minotaur IV, which utilizes three government-furnished solid rocket motors from decommissioned Peacekeeper ICBMs and a commercial solid rocket upper stage, is capable of launching payloads up to 1,730 kg (3,814 lb.) It’s really just a launch stool, and then a protected vault for our electrical ground support equipment. Rocket Lab identifies faulty electrical connector as cause of launch failure The last launch of a Minotaur rocket from Wallops Island was on Nov. 19, 2013, when a Minotaur 1 rocket — using Minuteman missile motors — took off …

[ July 31, 2020 ] Minotaur I is capable of launching payloads up to 580 kg (1,278 lbs) into low Earth Orbit.

To date, our Minotaur rockets have completed 26 missions out of every major U.S. spaceport with 100% success, demonstrating the vehicle's unique versatility and reliability. It was the seventh Minotaur launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia, and the first Minotaur to take off from there since 2013.“This mission marks the 27th consecutive successful launch for the company’s Minotaur product line which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year,” said Kurt Eberly, director of launch vehicles at Northrop Grumman, in a statement. All Rights Reserved.This website is best viewed in browsers such as: Edge, Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. The policy is intended to keep government-furnished equipment, such as the retired Peacekeeper stages, from competing with privately-developed rockets in the small satellite launch market.The Minotaur 4 rocket can carry payloads of up to 3,814 pounds (1,730 kilograms) into low Earth orbit, according to Northrop Grumman. Streak, at 417 kg Minotaur 1's heaviest payload to date, was inserted into a 296 × 321 km x 96.3 deg orbit. We encourage you to use one of these browsers for the best experience. The NRO is part of the U.S. government’s intelligence community, and owns a fleet of optical and radar surveillance satellites.“Despite facing challenges in 2020, we found new and better ways to collaborate with our partners from a distance, relentlessly pursuing our mission and denying sanctuary to our adversaries,” Scolese said.“I’m excited to add this new chapter to the NRO’s long history of developing, launching and operating sophisticated overhead intelligence systems in support of our nation’s security, and I look forward to a future with more opportunities for collaboration on the Virginia Space Coast,” he said.The launch Wednesday marked the 27th flight of a Minotaur rocket since January 2000, and the first Minotaur satellite delivery mission in nearly three years.

The rest of the flight occurred in a news blackout without live updates.The National Reconnaissance Office confirmed the launch — designated NROL-129 —  was a success later Wednesday morning.“I could not be prouder to witness NRO’s first dedicated launch out of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia,” said Chris Scolese, director of the NRO.

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