spacetoday.net: Orbital wins two Minotaur launch contracts

Posted: Fri, May 26, 2006, 1:27 PM ET (1727 GMT)
Minotaur launch (OSC)

Orbital Sciences Corporation announced Thursday that it has won contracts for the launches of two small military satellites on its Minotaur 1 launch vehicle. The $23-million contract covers the launch of the TacSat-2 spacecraft in 2006 and the TacSat-3 spacecraft the following year. The two spacecraft are small experimental spacecraft being developed to test small satellite technologies and operational techniques as part of a broader initiative within the Defense Department known as Operationally Responsive Space (ORS). The Minotaur 1 uses the lower two stages of retired Minuteman ICBMs and the upper stages from Pegasus launch vehicles. Because of its use of former ICBM components it is principally limited to government launches. The Minotaur 1 has performed five launches, including three since April 2005, all successfully.