September 4, 2025
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Breaking News
  • [ September 2, 2025 ] SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Wednesday sunrise Falcon 9 flight Falcon 9
  • [ September 2, 2025 ] SpaceX’s Tuesday night Starlink features rare debut of a Falcon booster Falcon 9
  • [ August 30, 2025 ] SpaceX’s Sunday morning Falcon 9 launch sends 1,900th Starlink to orbit in 2025 Falcon 9
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  • [ August 29, 2025 ] NASA, NOAA prep spacecraft trio to study the Sun and its impacts Mission Reports

Launch Pad 0B

Mission Reports

Photos: Minotaur rocket vaults into orbit from Virginia

July 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

Riding a half-million pounds of thrust, a Minotaur 4 rocket fired off a launch pad in Virginia, surpassed the speed of sound in less than 20 seconds, and vaulted into orbit Wednesday with four classified payloads for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Mission Reports

Minotaur rocket successfully deploys four NRO satellites in orbit

July 15, 2020 Stephen Clark

A solid-fueled Northrop Grumman Minotaur 4 rocket vaulted into orbit Wednesday from Virginia’s Eastern Shore and deployed four top secret spacecraft for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency, extending the program’s success record ahead of three more Minotaur missions planned in 2021.

Mission Reports

Photos: Minotaur 4 rocket ready for launch from Virginia

July 14, 2020 Stephen Clark

A 78-foot-tall Minotaur 4 rocket is poised for liftoff Wednesday from Virginia’s Eastern Shore carrying four top secret payloads into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Mission Reports

Live coverage: Minotaur 4 rocket launches from Virginia

July 14, 2020 Stephen Clark

A solid-fueled Minotaur 4 rocket lifted off from Wallops Island, Virginia at 9:46 a.m. EDT (1346 GMT) Wednesday. The four-stage rocket, comprised of retired Peacekeeper missile parts, launched on a mission to deliver four classified payloads into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Mission Reports

Minotaur rocket ready to launch four payloads for U.S. spy satellite agency

July 14, 2020 Stephen Clark

Four clandestine payloads for the National Reconnaissance Office are awaiting liftoff Wednesday from Wallops Island, Virginia, on a Minotaur 4 rocket powered by Cold War-era missile stages stored for more than 30 years until their conversion into a satellite launcher.

Mission Reports

Top secret NRO payload installed on Minotaur rocket for launch from Virginia

July 4, 2020 Stephen Clark

Crews working on Virginia’s Eastern Shore this week raised a top secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office — the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency — atop a solid-fueled Minotaur 4 rocket for liftoff July 15 on the first Minotaur launch in nearly three years.

News

Minotaur rocket launch for NRO expected at Wallops by end of 2018

January 12, 2017 Stephen Clark

A classified National Reconnaissance Office satellite mission assigned last month to launch on an Orbital ATK Minotaur 1 rocket will take off from Wallops Island in Virginia by the end of 2018, a U.S. Air Force spokesperson confirmed Wednesday.

News Headlines

  • SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Wednesday sunrise Falcon 9 flight
    September 2, 2025
  • SpaceX’s Tuesday night Starlink features rare debut of a Falcon booster
    September 2, 2025
  • SpaceX’s Sunday morning Falcon 9 launch sends 1,900th Starlink to orbit in 2025
    August 30, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites into polar orbit
    August 29, 2025
  • NASA, NOAA prep spacecraft trio to study the Sun and its impacts
    August 29, 2025
  • SpaceX launches record-breaking 30th flight of a Falcon 9 booster
    August 27, 2025
  • SpaceX completes 400th Falcon booster landing on a drone ship
    August 27, 2025
  • SpaceX successfully launches Super Heavy-Starship on critical test flight
    August 27, 2025
  • SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
    August 27, 2025
  • Launch preview: SpaceX tries for third time to launch Starship Flight 10 from Starbase, Texas
    August 26, 2025
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