Approximately nine minutes after launch, the STP-R1 satellite was inserted into its targeted orbit of approximately 300 kilometers above the Earth. Yesterday's mission was the fourth flight of the Minotaur I space launch vehicle, all of which have been successful.

Since the program's first flight in 2000, the Minotaur family of space and suborbital launch vehicles has carried out nine launches with 100% success. Over the next three years, Orbital is scheduled to conduct another eight launches of the Minotaur family of rockets.

The Minotaur I space launch vehicle used in yesterday's successful launch of the STP-R1 satellite is the initial member of Orbital's Minotaur family of launch vehicles, which include both space launch vehicles as well as long-range missile defense targets and other suborbital vehicles.

The rockets are derived from U.S. Government-supplied Minuteman and Peacekeeper rocket motors. The space launch configurations combine commercial rocket motors, avionics and other elements with the government-supplied stages to create responsive, reliable and low-cost launch systems for U.S. Government payloads.

The Minotaur I configuration includes Minuteman II rocket motors that serve as the vehicle's first and second stages, efficiently reusing motors that have been previously decommissioned. Its third and fourth stages, structures and payload fairing are common with Orbital's highly reliable Pegasus XL rocket.

The Minotaur I space launch vehicle made its inaugural flight in January 2000, successfully delivering a number of small military and university satellites into orbit and marking the first-ever use of residual U.S. Government Minuteman boosters in a space launch vehicle.

Its second mission was carried out less than six months later, in July 2000, with the launch of a technology demonstration satellite for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. The most recent mission was in April 2005, launching the Air Force's XSS-11 spacecraft from Vandenberg AFB.

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