| astronautix.com | Minotaur |
Minotaur, the first Orbital/Sub-orbital Program (OSP) Space launch vehicle, was scheduled for a late 1999 first launch. The OSP project office, located at Kirtland AFB, was tasked by the Air Force to convert and utilize excess Minuteman II missiles for government satellite delivery. Spaceport Systems International was selected to provide commercial launch services and the launch site for the OSP/JAWSAT mission. Spaceport operations consist of payload processing services provided in the Integrated Processing Facility (IPF) located on Space Launch Complex Six (SLC-6) and include launch services from facilities just south of SLC-6. The Minotaur launch vehicle was made up of modified Minuteman II Stage I and Stage II segments mated with Pegasus upper stages and avionics by Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC). This program demonstrates the U.S. government’s commitment to utilize excess cold war assets for research and education, while at the same time using commercially available launch services to reduce their overall program costs, as directed by the Commercial Space Act of 1994.
LEO Payload: 640 kg. to: 185 km Orbit. at: 28.5 degrees. Payload: 335 kg. to a: Sun synchronous, 741 km, 98.6 deg inclination trajectory. Liftoff Thrust: 73,000 kgf. Total Mass: 36,200 kg. Core Diameter: 1.7 m. Total Length: 19.2 m. Launch Price $: 12.50 million. in 1999 price dollars.
USAF Academy satellite, carried the CHAWS-LD (Charging Hazards and Wake Studies-Long Duration) experiment to measure spacecraft charging effects in LEO.
Joint USAF Academy/Weber State Satellite. Payloads included a plasma experiment, a particle detector, and a technology test.
Stanford University Orbiting Picosat Automated Launcher. Carried an acclerometer, a magnetometer, and six small picosatellites - Picosat 1 and 2, Stensat, and the Artemis triplets (JAK, Thelma, and Louise). The first two were deployed on February 7 at 0334:16 GMT. OPAL transmitter problems delayed the initial release.
Three picosatellites (JAK, Thelma, and Louise), developed by the Artemis team of women undergraduates at Santa Clara University, were deployed from the OPAL satellite. Mass 0.5 kg; size around 0.1-0.2m. Carried a VLF wave experiment. Ejected from OPAL on February 12; unfortunately no data was received thereafter.
Three picosatellites (JAK, Thelma, and Louise), developed by the Artemis team of women undergraduates at Santa Clara University, were deployed from the OPAL satellite. . JAK is the initials of the infant son of the Artemis' team's advisor Mass 0.2 kg; size around 0.1 - 0.2m. Carried a VLF wave experiment. Ejected from OPAL on February 11; unfortunately no data was received thereafter.
Optical Calibration Sphere Experiment, a 3.5m diameter inflatable sphere built by L'Garde Inc. for calibrating the lasers at the AFRL Starfire Optical Range. The 0.48m long 0.41m diameter OCSE canister was ejected from the JAWSAT stack; 42 seconds later, with the canister clear of the other payloads, the canister door opened and 10 seconds after that inflation of the sphere began. The canister remains attached to the inflated sphere. Once inflated, the sphere's material becomes rigidized
Deployed by the OPAL satellite on February 7 at 0334:16 GMT. Picosat 1 and 2 were each 0.25 kg DARPA/Aerospace Corp. MEMS (Micro Electro-mechanical Systems) picosatellites, each carrying intersatellite communications experiment and connected by a 30-m tether.
Arizona State University satellite with an Earth imager and an amateur radio transponder.
Deployed by the OPAL satellite on February 7 at 0334:16 GMT. Picosat 1 and 2 were each 0.25 kg DARPA/Aerospace Corp. MEMS (Micro Electro-mechanical Systems) picosatellites, each carrying intersatellite communications experiment and connected by a 30-m tether.
Picosat. Built by built by the AMSAT-NA (Amateur Satellite, North America) group, and carried an amateur radio transponder. Ejected from OPAL on February 11; unfortunately no data was received thereafter.
Three picosatellites (JAK, Thelma, and Louise), developed by the Artemis team of women undergraduates at Santa Clara University, were deployed from the OPAL satellite. Mass 0.5 kg; size around 0.1-0.2m. Carried a VLF wave experiment. Ejected from OPAL on February 12; unfortunately no data was received thereafter.
Mightysat 2.1, also known as Sindri, used a Spectrum Astro SA-200B satellite bus. The spacecraft carried a hyperspectral imager for earth imaging and spectroscopy, as well as satellite technology experiments such as advanced solar arrays. An Aerospace Corp./DARPA picosatellite experiment, consisting of two small boxes connected by a deployable tether, was deployed later. Similar picosats were deployed on the previous Minotaur launch in January 2000.