September 26, 2023
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Space Surveillance

Mission Reports

Live coverage: Minotaur 4 rocket makes first launch from Cape Canaveral

August 25, 2017 Stephen Clark

An Orbital ATK Minotaur 4 rocket partially powered by modified motors from a Cold War-era nuclear missile lifted off early Saturday from Cape Canaveral with a small U.S. military satellite to help track other objects in space. The solid-fueled launcher took off at 2:04 a.m. EDT (0604 GMT) after a weather delay.

Mission Reports

Military satellite ready for launch aboard converted Cold War-era missile

August 25, 2017 Stephen Clark

A U.S. military satellite awaiting launch Friday night from Cape Canaveral is small enough to fit on a coffee table, but it will punch above its weight, scanning a region more than 20,000 miles above Earth to catalog spacecraft movements and space junk.

Mission Reports

Assembly complete for Minotaur launcher at Cape Canaveral

August 19, 2017 Stephen Clark

Using industrial cranes at a no-frills launch pad on the eastern tip of Cape Canaveral, a team of Orbital ATK and U.S. Air Force technicians have fully stacked a modified Cold War-era missile set for launch next week with a $49 million satellite built to track other objects in orbit.

Mission Reports

Build-up begins for first Minotaur rocket launch from Cape Canaveral

August 4, 2017 Stephen Clark

Ground crews at a long-dormant launch pad at Cape Canaveral are stacking surplus military missile motors for the Aug. 25 launch of a Minotaur 4 rocket with a satellite designed to track orbital traffic thousands of miles above Earth.

Mission Reports

Launch of military’s new space-based satellite tracker delayed to August

June 21, 2017 Stephen Clark

The launch from Cape Canaveral of a small U.S. military satellite built to track objects in geosynchronous orbit has been delayed from mid-July until August, an Air Force spokesperson said.

News

Minotaur rocket selected to launch military satellite in 2017

July 9, 2015 Stephen Clark

Cape Canaveral will get its first Minotaur rocket launch in 2017, when the solid-fueled booster will send up a U.S. Air Force space surveillance satellite under a contract with Orbital ATK.

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News Headlines

  • SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Starlink satellites from California
    September 25, 2023
  • OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule safely lands in Utah
    September 24, 2023
  • Interview: Talking asteroid sample return
    September 24, 2023
  • As it happened: Seven-year asteroid adventure ends with sample return
    September 24, 2023
  • Another Falcon 9 hits 17-flight milestone with Starlink launch
    September 23, 2023
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