Posted on 10/31/2017 5:13:54 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Built by Orbital ATK, the Minotaur C rocket is a hybrid version of the company's old Taurus XL rocket, Pegasus rocket and Minotaur family of rockets.
After Orbital ATK suffered a series of launch failures with the Taurus rockets — which led to the loss of NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory as well as its Glory climate-monitoring satellite — the company redesigned the Taurus. The new and improved rocket uses newer and more reliable technologies that Orbital ATK had built for its other Minotaur rockets.
"To date, our Minotaur rockets have completed 26 missions out of every major U.S. spaceport with 100 percent success, demonstrating the vehicle’s unique versatility and reliability," Orbital ATK officials said in a statement.
The upgraded Minotaur C closely resembles a Taurus rocket, but it incorporates "numerous design features that are [in] common with the Minotaur product line, such as the rocket's electrical power system, payload fairing, flight-termination system, navigation sensors and RF components," the statement said. The company also refers to the Minotaur C as "a ground-launched variant" of the air-launched Pegasus rockets.
Minotaur C is equipped with four solid-fueled rocket stages, stands 92 feet (28 meters) tall and can deliver payloads of up to 3,500 lbs. (1,590 kilograms) into orbit.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
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