Rebranded Minotaur-C returns to flight with successful Halloween launch.
Ten satellites were lofted into orbit Halloween night by the first flight of a little-used rocket in over six years. Orbital ATK's Minotaur-C rocket blasted off from SLC-576E at Vandenberg Air Force Base at 5:27pm EDT.
The rocket carried ten Earth-observation satellites into Polar orbit for Planet, six SkySat spacecraft, and four CubeSats. Joining seven other satellites currently in orbit, the six SkySat spacecraft have a resolution of 86 centimeters; the smaller Dove CubeSats will eventually form a fleet of 160 satellites providing quick-response and cost-efficient commercial Earth imagery.
Minotaur-C is a rebranded version of the company's Taurus rocket, which suffered two high-profile failures in 2009 and 2011. Following the mishaps, likely caused by non-aerospace grade materials in the payload fairing's separation joints, Orbital modified the vehicle's fairing and avionics.
Standing over 105 feet tall, the solid-propellant Minotaur-C used in Tuesday's launch boasted four stages. Three of them were identical to the stages of the air-launched Pegasus vehicle while Minotaur's first stage – dubbed Stage 0 – is developmentally related to the Peacekeeper missile's first stage. Minotaur-C uses all commercial stages developed by Orbital, giving the vehicle its ‘C’ designation.
Liftoff occurred at 5:27pm EDT after a flawless countdown. Following four minutes of powered flight, the vehicle's fourth stage coasted for over five minutes until ignition. Burning propellant for just under a minute and a half, the ten satellites reached their sun-synchronous orbit at T+10 minutes and 45 seconds. Deployment of the spacecraft occurred from T+ 13 to 19 minutes.
Minotaur's ascent was flawless save for multiple telemetry outages caused by the geometry between ground tracking stations and the electrically-charged exhaust of the rocket. Although the rocket successfully returned to service, it is unclear when Minotaur's next launch will be; there are currently no missions lined up for the booster. Orbital ATK will now focus their attention towards the upcoming OA-8 mission on the Antares rocket, launching from Wallops Island, Virginia, on November 11.