Posted: Fri, Oct 3, 2003, 10:17 AM ET (1417 GMT)
Orbital Sciences Corporation announced Thursday that it has received an order from the US Air Force for a Minotaur launch vehicle. The $11-million order will cover the launch of a classified payload on a Minotaur in 2005. Currently three other payloads are scheduled for launch on Minotaur boosters: XSS-11 and the Near Field Infrared Experiment (NFIRE) satellites in 2004, and COSMIC, a Taiwanese payload also known as Rocsat 3, scheduled for launch in 2005. Thursday's order was the first made under a new contract OSP-2, that the Air Force awarded to Orbital earlier this year to cover launches using Minotaur and surplus Peacekeeper missiles. The Minotaur uses the first and second stages of a Minuteman 2 ICBM and the upper two stages of a Pegasus XL vehicle to place small payloads into LEO. The Minotaur has launched twice, both in 2000. The $11 million price quoted is significantly lower that recent estimates for a Minotaur launch, which have run as high as $19 million.

Related Links:

•  Orbital press release