Төрт сатылы қатты отынды ұшыру құралы: Minotaur C туралы мәліметтер

Four stage, solid fuel launch vehicle

Minotaur C (Minotaur Commercial), formerly known as Taurus or Taurus XL, is a four stage solid fueled launch vehicle built in the United States by Orbital Sciences (now Northrop Grumman) and launched from SLC 576E at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. It is based on the air launched Pegasus rocket from the same manufacturer, utilizing a "zeroth stage" in place of an airplane. The Minotaur C is able to carry a maximum payload of around 1458 kg into a low Earth orbit (LEO). First launched in 1994, it has successfully completed seven out of a total of ten military and commercial missions. Three of four launches between 2001 and 2011 ended in failure, including the 24 February 2009 launch of the Orbiting Carbon Observatory mission which resulted in losses totalling US$700 million for NASA (excluding the cost of the rockets themselves). The Taurus launch vehicle was subsequently rebranded in 2014 as Minotaur C, which incorporates new avionics based on those used by the Minotaur family of rockets.

On 21 September 2001, a Taurus XL rocket failed during launch. When the second stage ignited at T+83 seconds, a nozzle gimbal actuator drive shaft seized for approximately 5 seconds causing loss of control. The vehicle recovered and continued to fly the mission profile, but failed to reach a stable orbit and reentered near Madagascar.

On 24 February 2009, a Taurus XL rocket failed during the launch of the US$270 million Orbiting Carbon Observatory spacecraft. Liftoff occurred successfully at 09:55 UTC from Vandenberg Air Force Base, but data received at a later stage of the flight suggested that the fairing failed to separate. The rocket did not reach orbit, owing to the extra weight of the fairing. The replacement satellite, Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2, was launched on 2 July 2014 aboard a Delta II rocket.

On 4 March 2011, a Taurus XL rocket failed again during the launch of NASA's US$424 million Glory climate change monitoring satellite. In total, the last two failures of the Taurus XL have resulted in payload losses worth $700 million. A continued investigation eventually revealed that sub standard parts provided by Sapa Profiles, Inc. (SPI) with falsified test results were the likely cause of both of the OCO and Glory fairing failures.

The upper stages of the Minotaur C are used by the boost vehicle of the Ground Based Interceptor, the anti ballistic missile component of the U. S. Missile Defense Agency's Ground Based Midcourse Defense system.