spacetoday.net: Mintotaur 4 launches ORS-5

Posted: Sun, Aug 27, 2017, 10:20 AM ET (1420 GMT)
Minotaur 4 launch of ORS-5 (Orbital ATK)

An Orbital ATK Minotaur 4 rocket launched a space surveillance satellite for the US Air Force in the early morning hours Saturday. The Minotaur 4 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 2:04 am EDT (0604 GMT), nearly three hours into a four-hour launch window because of weather around the launch site. The rocket deployed the Operational Responsive Space (ORS) 5 into a low Earth equatorial orbit nearly half an hour later. ORS-5, also known as SensorSat, was developed by the Air Force's ORS Office to support space surveillance activities. The launch was the first from Cape Canaveral for the Minotaur 4, a vehicle that uses decommissioned Peacekeeper motors for its lower stages.