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Minotaur I | COSMIC 1-6
Orbital Sciences CorporationLaunch Successful

COSMIC 1-6

Minotaur I

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Historical mission record

This page records Minotaur I | COSMIC 1-6 and its reported outcome: Launch Successful. The date above is a historical record.

Source record updated . This is a source update, not a confirmed launch time.

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Mission status
Launch Successful

Status reported by the mission data provider.

LAUNCH SITEVandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Mission

In early 2001, the National Space Program Office (NSPO) of Taiwan, Republic of China, selected Orbital for a $56 million contract for the ROCSAT-3/COSMIC (Republic of China Satellite / Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate) program. ROCSAT was renamed FORMOSAT in December 2004. The FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC program is an international collaboration between Taiwan and the United States that will use a constellation of six remote sensing microsatellites to collect atmospheric data for weather prediction and for ionosphere, climate and gravity research. Data from the satellites will be made freely available to the international scientific community in near real-time.

Launch vehicle
Minotaur I
Mission type
Earth Science
Destination orbit
Low Earth Orbit
Launch pad
Space Launch Complex 8
Provider
Orbital Sciences Corporation

The vehicle

Published configuration and flight history.

Minotaur I
NASA
Launch vehicle

Minotaur I

The Minotaur I launch system is derived from converted Minuteman II ICBMs and is used to launch small satellites for the US Government. The first and second stages, taken directly from decommissioned Minuteman missiles, are mated to the Orion third and fourth stages taken from the Pegasus XL air-launched rocket family. An optional hydrazine-powered fifth stage called HAPS can be used.The Minotaur I launch system is derived from converted Minuteman II ICBMs and is used to launch small satellites for the US Government. An optional hydrazine-powered fifth stage called HAPS can be used.

Height
19.21 m
Diameter
1.67 m
Stages
5
Recorded launches
12
First flight
2000-01-27

Recorded timing

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Instantaneous windowPublished target
SCHEDULED MOMENT

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Launch site & orbit

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

The mission in perspective

Launch site & orbit

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NASA Blue Marble map of Earth's continents and oceans
Representative orbit · accelerated illustrationNo live tracking or simulated ascent. NASA Blue Marble.

Coverage & sources

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Further reading

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