Minotaur 4 SBSS launches Sept. 25, 2010

Minotaur 4 performed its first orbital launch on September 26, 2010 from Vandenberg AFB Space Launch Complex 8. The four stage solid fuel rocket orbited SBSS, the 1.03 tonne Space Based Space Surveilance satellite, for the U.S. Strategic Command. SBSS was designed to track objects in orbit using an on-board gimbaled optical sensor. Minotaur 4 lifted off at 04:41 UTC. Its first three, MX missile based stages burned in succession during the first 3 minutes 27 seconds of the flight, lifting the vehicle to a 192 km altitude and propelling it 580 km downrange. The fourth stage then coasted for about eight minutes before its Orion 38 motor ignited for a 67 second burn to inject SBSS into a 541 x 538 km x 98 deg orbit. Spacecraft separation occured about 15 minutes after liftoff.