EO·Atlas
Northrop Grumman Minotaur
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Northrop Grumman Minotaur family of solid-fuel launch vehicles for U.S. government payloads, using decommissioned missile motors with commercial upper stages.
Northrop Grumman Minotaur is a solid-fuel launch-vehicle family for U.S. government-sponsored payloads. The service combines government-furnished decommissioned missile motors with Northrop Grumman commercial launch technologies, with Northrop Grumman as launch service provider and prime contractor.[1][2]
The family includes Minotaur I, IV, V, and VI: Minotaur I uses Minuteman motors, Minotaur IV uses three decommissioned Peacekeeper motors plus a commercial upper stage, and Minotaur V and VI extend the IV architecture for higher-energy or heavier LEO missions.[1][3]
Published lift capability spans up to 580 kg to LEO for Minotaur I, 1,730 kg for Minotaur IV, and 3,100 kg for Minotaur VI.[1] Minotaur I first flew in 2000, Minotaur IV first flew in 2010, and the family remained active in 2026, including the STP-S29A Minotaur IV launch from Vandenberg on 2026-04-07.[2]
Supply chain position
- [1]Minotaur Rocket, Northrop Grummanoperator marketing-2026-06-16
- [2]U.S. Space Force launches DoW STP-S29A missionagency doc2026-04-072026-06-16
- [3]Minotaur IV-VI User Guide, Northrop Grummanoperator engineering2020-09-012026-06-16
How to cite this page
Plain text
Northrop Grumman Minotaur. EO-Atlas, SpectraWorks B.V. https://eo-atlas.org/launch_services/northrop-grumman-minotaur (CC BY 4.0)
BibTeX
@misc{eoatlas:launch_services:northrop-grumman-minotaur,
title = {Northrop Grumman Minotaur},
author = {{EO-Atlas}},
publisher = {SpectraWorks B.V.},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
url = {https://eo-atlas.org/launch_services/northrop-grumman-minotaur}
}