Orbital Minotaur VI - Manual (Page 19)

Minotaur IV • V • VI User’s Guide Section 2.0 – Minotaur IV Configurations
2. MINOTAUR IV CONFIGURATIONS
2.1. Minotaur IV Launch System Overview
The Minotaur IV (Figure 2.1-1) mission is to
provide a cost effective, reliable and flexible
means of placing satellites into orbit. Orbital is the
launch vehicle provider and manufacturer under
the Orbital Suborbital Program 3 (OSP-3) contract
for the U.S. Air Force. An overview of the system
and available launch services is provided within
this section, with specific elements covered in
greater detail in the subsequent sections of this
User’s Guide.
The Minotaur IV family of launch vehicles has
been designed to meet the needs of U.S.
Government-sponsored customers at a lower cost
than commercially available alternatives by using
surplus Peacekeeper boosters.
As stated
previously, the Minotaur IV family of launch
vehicles includes the Minotaur IV, IV+, V, VI, and
VI+. The requirements of the OSP-3 program
emphasize system reliability, transportability, and
operation from multiple launch sites. Minotaur IV
draws on the successful heritage of Orbital’s
space launch vehicles as well as the USAF
Peacekeeper system to meet these requirements.
Orbital has built upon these legacy systems with
enhanced avionics components and advanced
composite structures to meet the payload-support
requirements of the OSP-3 program. Combining
these subsystems with the long successful history
of the Peacekeeper boosters has resulted in a
simple, robust, self-contained launch system to
support government-sponsored small satellite
launches.
The Minotaur IV system also includes a complete
set of transportable Launch Support Equipment
(LSE) designed to allow Minotaur IV to be
operated as a self-contained satellite delivery
system. To accomplish this goal, the Electrical
Ground Support Equipment (EGSE) has been
developed to be portable and adaptable to varying
levels of infrastructure. While the Minotaur IV
system is capable of self-contained operation at
Figure 2.1-1. Minotaur IV Baseline
Launch Vehicle
Release 2.0 June 2013 4