Orbital Launches Minotaur II Target Vehicle In ABM Sensor Test

MISSILE DEFENSE

Orbital Sciences Minotaur II rocket

by Staff Writers
Dulles VA (SPX) Mar 30, 2007
Orbital Sciences reports that its Minotaur II rocket was successfully launched for the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center in support of advanced sensor testing by the Missile Defense Agency. The mission was conducted on Tuesday, March 20, 2007, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

The Air Force program office for Minotaur II is the 3rd Space Test Squadron of the Space Development and Test Wing (SDTW) at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. This mission was the sixth for the Minotaur II Target Launch Vehicle (TLV) and the 12th for the Minotaur family, all of which have been successful.

The launch originated from VAFB at approximately 9:27 p.m. (PDT) on March 20. The vehicle's three solid rocket motors burned for approximately three minutes, putting it on a trajectory to a precise aim point nearly 4,000 nautical miles to the west over the Pacific Ocean. The vehicle was observed by a variety of MDA sensors deployed across the Pacific.

Orbital is one of the country's leading suppliers of launch vehicles used in missile defense applications.

In addition to numerous configurations of target vehicles, Orbital is also designing and building the interceptor boosters for two major missile defense programs, including the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, which uses the company's three-stage Orbital Boost Vehicle (OBV), and the Kinetic Energy Interceptors (KEI) program, which is designed to intercept and destroy enemy missiles in the early boost phase of flight.

These interceptors are part of a layered missile defense system for defending the nation, our armed forces and our allies against ballistic missile attacks.

Orbital's Minotaur product line was developed under the U.S. Air Force's Orbital/Suborbital Program (OSP). The initial five-year OSP contract was competitively awarded to Orbital in 1997 and the company also won the follow-on 10-year OSP-2 contract in 2003.

The Minotaur II target launch vehicle design used in the recent launch is one of the two original members of Orbital's growing family of Minotaur launch vehicles, which includes both space launch vehicles and long-range suborbital vehicles for missile defense and other specialized launch missions.

Prior to this mission, the most recent launch of the Minotaur family was in December 2006 when a Minotaur I space launch vehicle (SLV) successfully placed the TacSat-2 spacecraft into orbit from Wallops Island, Virginia in a demonstration of Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) capabilities.

Email This Article

MISSILE DEFENSE

US Offers To Boost Missile Cooperation with Russia

Brussels (AFP) March 29, 2007
The United States offered Thursday to boost cooperation with Russia on missile defence, including sharing technologies and research as well as developing missile defence systems.

SUPERPOWERS Indian Plans Naval Wargames With China, Japan, Russia, US EU Dreams Of Common Army Chairman Observes Chinese Land Combat Exercise Putin And Hu Talk About Superpower Stuff During Dinner In Moscow	NUKEWARS Iran Changed Coordinates Of British Boats Says British Ambassador A New Era Of Nuclear Fear May Loom In Shadown Of Missile Shield Greenpeace Flagship Docks In Israel On Anti-Nuclear Campaign Two Koreas Met Secretly Just After Nuclear Test
MISSILE NEWS India Says Air-To-Air Missile Tested And BrahMos To Be Deployed System Monitors Health Of New Composite Military Missiles Pakistan Test Fires Nuclear-Capable Cruise Missile Boeing JDAM Scores Direct Hit In Extended Range Tests	MISSILE DEFENSE US Offers To Boost Missile Cooperation with Russia Orbital Launches Minotaur II Target Vehicle In ABM Sensor Test Raining On The ABM Parade Putin Spells Out Security Worries In Bush Phone Call
AEROSPACE NASA Seeks New Research Proposals Germans Urged To Give Foreign Travel A Rest To Curb Global Warming Raytheon Team Proposes Single International Standard In ADS-B Pursuit NASA Signs Defense Department Agreement	UAV NEWS Northrop Grumman Gets 287 Million Dollar Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Systems Contract Boeing Prepares First US Military ScanEagle Crews Israeli Air Force Unveils Long-Range Drone New Technology Expands Air Force Combat Capability
IRAQ WARS An Iraqi Plan To Oust Militias Moqtada al-Sadr's Long Game Flickers Of Hope In Iraq US Wounded Rates Rise In Iraq	MILTECH Hybrid Electric Future Heavy Truck Begins UQM Propulsion System Testing Northrop Grumman Successfully Completes F-22 Radar Flight-Test Certification Boeing Helps US Air Force B-1 Fleet Reach 500,000 Flight Hours Military Concept Vehicles To Aid Future Development

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement