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Minotaur IV
Minotaur IV, also known as Peacekeeper SLV and OSP-2 PK is an active expendable launch system derived from the retired LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM. It is operated by Northrop Grumman Space Systems, and made its maiden flight on 22 April 2010 carrying the HTV-2a Hypersonic Test Vehicle. The first orbital launch occurred on 26 September 2010 with the SBSS satellite for the United States Air Force. The Minotaur IV vehicle consists of four stages and is capable of placing of payload into a low Earth orbit (LEO). The first three stages are decommissioned Peacekeeper missile motors. On the baseline Minotaur IV, the fourth stage is an Orion 38. The higher-performance Minotaur IV+ variant instead replaces the Orion motor with a Star 48BV fourth stage. A three-stage configuration (no Orion 38 or Star 48), designated the Minotaur IV Lite, is available for suborbital trajectories. A five-stage derivative, the Minotaur V, made its maiden flight on 7 September 2013. Minotaur IV launc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry, weapons manufacturers and military technology providers. Formed in 1994 through Northrop Corporation's purchase of Grumman Aerospace, Northrop Grumman ranked as the List of defense contractors, third-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2022. The firm ranked on the 2022 Fortune 500, ''Fortune'' 500 list of America's largest corporations. Northrop Grumman and its industry partners have won the Collier Trophy nine times, most recently for the development and production of the James Webb Space Telescope, an Space telescope, orbiting observatory launched in 2021. Northrop Grumman leads the development of the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider, B-21 Raider, a long-range, stealth aircraft, stealth strategic bomber that can drop conv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Expendable Launch System
An expendable launch system (or expendable launch vehicle/ELV) is a launch vehicle that can be launched only once, after which its components are destroyed during reentry or impact with Earth, or discarded in space. ELVs typically consist of several rocket stages that are discarded sequentially as their fuel is exhausted and the vehicle gains altitude and speed. As of 2024, fewer and fewer satellites and human spacecraft are launched on ELVs in favor of reusable launch vehicles. However, there are many instances where a ELV may still have a compelling use case over a reusable vehicle. ELVs are simpler in design than reusable launch systems and therefore may have a lower production cost. Furthermore, an ELV can use its entire fuel supply to accelerate its payload, offering greater payloads. ELVs are a proven technology in widespread use for many decades. Current operators Arianespace China ISRO During the 1960s and 1970s, India initiated its own launch vehicle program ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orbital Sciences
Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other government customers. In 2014, Orbital merged with Alliant Techsystems (ATK) to create a new company called Orbital ATK, which in turn was purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2018. Orbital was headquartered in Dulles, Virginia and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol ORB. Orbital's primary products were satellites and launch vehicles, including low Earth orbit (LEO), geosynchronous Earth orbit and planetary spacecraft for communications, remote sensing, scientific and defense missions; ground- and air-launched launch vehicles that delivered satellites into orbit; missile defense systems that were used as interceptor and target vehicles; and human-rated space systems for Earth orbit, lunar and other missions. Orbital ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Launch Pad 0
Launch Pad 0 (LP-0), also known as Launch Complex 0 (LC-0), or Launch Area 0 (LA-0), is a launch complex at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island, Virginia, in the United States. MARS is located right next to the NASA Wallops Flight Facility (WFF), which had run the launch complex until 2003. WFF still provides support services to MARS launches under a contract with the Commonwealth of Virginia. The launch complex consists of three individual launch pads, LP-0A, LP-0B, and LP-0C, referred to by Rocket Lab as Launch Complex 2 (LC-2). Additionally, there is a fourth pad, LP-0D (referred to by Rocket Lab as Launch Complex 3 or LC-3), that is currently under construction. Launch Pads Pad 0A LP-0A (located at ) was first built for the failed Conestoga rocket program. The original launch tower was subsequently demolished in September 2008. A new pad facility was built from 2009 to 2011 for Orbital Sciences ''Taurus II'', now renamed Antares. Pad modifica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vandenberg Space Force Base
Vandenberg Space Force Base , previously Vandenberg Air Force Base, is a United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Established in 1941, Vandenberg Space Force Base is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from the Western Range (USSF), Western Range, and also performs missile testing. The United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 30 serves as the host delta for the base, equivalent to an Air Force air base Wing (military unit), wing. In addition to its military space launch mission, Vandenberg Space Force Base also hosts space launches for civil and commercial space entities, such as NASA and SpaceX. History United States Army Camp Cooke (1941–1953) In 1941, just before the United States entered World War II, the United States Army embarked on an initiative to acquire lands in the United States to be used to train infantry and armored forces. These areas needed to be of a varied nature to ensure relevant training. In March 1941, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Low Earth Orbit
A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, peaking in number at an altitude around , while the farthest in LEO, before medium Earth orbit (MEO), have an altitude of 2,000 km, about one-third of the Earth radius, radius of Earth and near the beginning of the Van Allen radiation belt#Inner belt, inner Van Allen radiation belt. The term ''LEO region'' is used for the area of space below an altitude of (about one-third of Earth's radius). Objects in orbits that pass through this zone, even if they have an apogee further out or are sub-orbital spaceflight, sub-orbital, are carefully tracked since they present a collision risk to the many LEO satellites. No human spaceflights other than the lunar missions of the Apollo program (1968-1972) have gone beyond L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Multistage Rocket
A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage is attached alongside another stage. The result is effectively two or more rockets stacked on top of or attached next to each other. Two-stage rockets are quite common, but rockets with as many as five separate stages have been successfully launched. By jettisoning stages when they run out of propellant, the mass of the remaining rocket is decreased. Each successive stage can also be optimized for its specific operating conditions, such as decreased atmospheric pressure at higher altitudes. This ''staging'' allows the thrust of the remaining stages to more easily accelerate the rocket to its final velocity and height. In serial or tandem staging schemes, the first stage is at the bottom and is usually the largest, the second stage and subse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established by transfer of personnel from the Army Air Forces with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the second youngest branch of the United States Armed Forces and the fourth in United States order of precedence, order of precedence. The United States Air Force articulates its core missions as air supremacy, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance, global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, airlift, rapid global mobility, Strategic bombing, global strike, and command and control. The United States Department of the Air Force, Department of the Air Force, which serves as the USAF's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Based Space Surveillance
The Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) system is a planned United States Space Force constellation of satellites and supporting ground infrastructure that will improve the ability of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to detect and track space objects in orbit around the Earth. The SBSS development work is being conducted in coordination with the Space Situational Awareness Group in the Space Superiority Systems Wing of the Space and Missile Systems Center. Pathfinder satellite The first "pathfinder" satellite of the SBSS system (SBSS 1, aka USA 216, COSPAR 2010-048A, SATCAT 37168) was successfully placed into orbit on board a Minotaur IV rocket on 26 September 2010 (UTC). Originally, the launch was scheduled for December 2008 but was rescheduled for Spring of 2009, and again delayed until 22 October 2009. The launch delays were caused by problems with the booster, and not the satellite itself. A launch expected for 8 July 2010 was also postponed. The program ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Force Public Affairs Agency
The Air Force Public Affairs Agency (AFPAA) is a United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ... field operating agency headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. Headquarters AFPAA consists of two directorates, the Directorates of Staff and Operations. Additionally, AFPAA is accountable for two Combat Camera Squadrons, two Audiovisual Squadrons, and two Operating Locations. The Directorate of Staff includes Financial Management, IT Support, Knowledge Operations, Logistics, and Personnel and Training. The Directorate of Operations includes Branding, Trademark and Licensing, Public Web, Plans and Programs, and career field development courses writers. The agency oversees the 1st Combat Camera Squadron and 4th Combat Camera Squadron co-locate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
