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Taurus / Minotaur-C

Taurus-1110 (STEP 0, DARPASAT) [OSC]
Minotaur-C-1110

Taurus-2110 (KOMPSAT 1, ACRIMSat) [OSC]
Minotaur-C-2110

Taurus-2210 (GFO, Orbcomm FM3, 4) [OSC]
Minotaur-C-2210

Taurus-3110 (OCO) [NASA]
Minotaur-C-XL-3110

Taurus-3210 (ROCSAT 2) [OSC]
Minotaur-C-XL-3210

 

The Taurus has been created by adding the stages of Pegasus (without wing and fins) to a Peacekeeper first stage or a Castor-120. It has been designed as a quick reaction launch vehicle, which can be launched from minimaly prepared places in a matter of a few days.

The coding of variants is as below:
1. digit = first stage (1 = TU-903; 2 = Castor-120)
2. digit = size of fairing (1 = small, 2 = large)
3. digit = type of Stage 4 (1 = Orion-38, 3 = Star-37FM)
4. digit = type of optional Stage 5 (0 = none, 3 = Star-37FM)

It is not clear, how the XL versions were to fit into this coding system.

In early 2014, the Taurus brand was discontinued and replaced by the Minotaur-C, which is in fact a Taurus with Minotaur avionics.

→ complete list of all Peacekeeper / Castor-120 based rockets

Version Strap-On Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4
Taurus-1110 (ARPA-Taurus) / Minotaur-C-1110 - TU-903 Orion-50ST Orion-50T Orion-38
Taurus-2110 (Commercial-Taurus) / Minotaur-C-2110 - Castor-120 Orion-50ST Orion-50T Orion-38
Taurus-2210 (Commercial-Taurus) / Minotaur-C-2210 - Castor-120 Orion-50ST Orion-50T Orion-38
Taurus-3110 (Taurus-XL) / Minotaur-C-XL-3110 (Minotaur-C-XL) - Castor-120 Orion-50SXLT Orion-50XLT Orion-38
Taurus-3210 (Taurus-XL) / Minotaur-C-XL-3210 (Minotaur-C-XL) - Castor-120 Orion-50SXLT Orion-50XLT Orion-38
Taurus-XL/S 2 × GEM-40 Castor-120 Orion-50SXLT Orion-50XLT Orion-38
Performance (kg) LEO LPEO SSO GTO GEO MolO IP
Taurus-1110 (ARPA-Taurus) / Minotaur-C-1110 1180 1160 750 370 -
Taurus-2110 (Commercial-Taurus) / Minotaur-C-2110 1250 1180 900 375 -
Taurus-2210 (Commercial-Taurus) / Minotaur-C-2210 1050 1180 700 -
Taurus-3110 (Taurus-XL) / Minotaur-C-XL-3110 (Minotaur-C-XL) 1450 1050 445 - 295
Taurus-3210 (Taurus-XL) / Minotaur-C-XL-3210 (Minotaur-C-XL) 1275 880 - 295
Taurus-XL/S 2180 1750 640 - 380
No:      Type                          Date          LS              Payload

 1   1   Taurus-1110           T-1     13.03.1994    Va 576E         STEP 0 (P90-5, USA 101) / DARPASAT (USA 102)
 2   1   Taurus-2210           T-2     10.02.1998    Va 576E         GFO / Orbcomm FM03 / Orbcomm FM04 / Celestis 03
 3   2   Taurus-1110           T-3     03.10.1998    Va 576E         STEX (USA 140) / ATEx-UEB / ATEx-LEB
 4   1   Taurus-2110           T-4     21.12.1999    Va 576E         KOMPSAT 1 (Arirang 1) / ACRIMSat / Celestis 04
 5   3   Taurus-1110           T-5     12.03.2000    Va 576E         MTI (P97-3)
 6   2   Taurus-2110           T-6     21.09.2001    Va 576E      F  OrbView 4 / QuikTOMS / SBD / Celestis 05
 7   1   Taurus-3210           T-7     20.05.2004    Va 576E         ROCSAT 2
 8   1   Taurus-3110           T-8     24.02.2009    Va 576E      F  OCO (ESSP 5) 
 9   2   Taurus-3110           T-9     04.03.2011    Va 576E      F  Glory / E1P / KySat 1 / Hermes
10   2   Minotaur-C-XL-3210    x       31.10.2017    Va 576E         SkySat 8 / SkySat 9 / SkySat 10 / SkySat 11 / SkySat 12 / SkySat 13 / Flock-3m 1, ..., 4


planned:


Failures:

Flight 6: Problems after separation of stage 1, orbit not attained
Flight 8: Payload fairing not seperated, orbit not attained
Flight 9: Payload fairing not seperated, orbit not attained


Launch sites:

Va  = Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA USA/ 576E

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