Orion 38
Orion 38 is a flight-proven solid upper-stage motor used across Pegasus, Taurus, Taurus XL, Taurus Lite, and Minotaur-C and as the fourth stage of Minotaur I and Minotaur IV. Current Northrop propulsion materials list 38.0-inch diameter, 66.8-second burn time, 8,303 lbf maximum vacuum thrust, 286.97-second effective specific impulse, QDL-1 HTPB polymer propellant with 19% aluminum, and a vectorable nozzle; the catalog marks the motor flight-proven and in production.
Identity
- Domains
- spaceflight
- Identity Level
- model
- Kind
- solid-rocket-motor
- Name
- Orion 38
- Status
- active
Details
- Description
- Orion 38 is a flight-proven solid upper-stage motor used across Pegasus, Taurus, Taurus XL, Taurus Lite, and Minotaur-C and as the fourth stage of Minotaur I and Minotaur IV. Current Northrop propulsion materials list 38.0-inch diameter, 66.8-second burn time, 8,303 lbf maximum vacuum thrust, 286.97-second effective specific impulse, QDL-1 HTPB polymer propellant with 19% aluminum, and a vectorable nozzle; the catalog marks the motor flight-proven and in production.
- Developers
- Family
- Manufacturers
- Propellants
- solid propellantQDL-1 HTPB polymer with 19% aluminum
- Rocket Specs
- Burn Time S
- 66.8
- Vacuum Specific Impulse S
- 286.97
- Vacuum Thrust Kn
- 36.934
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- July 29, 2026 at 09:12:05 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 21, 2026 at 00:03:43 UTC
Other
- Sources
- Accessed Date
- 2026-07-29
- Note
- Supports the legacy vehicle installation and the narrow canonical identity used for migration.
- Publisher
- Official vehicle or program source
- Title
- Minotaur I official vehicle reference
- Accessed Date
- 2026-07-29
- Note
- Supports the legacy vehicle installation and the narrow canonical identity used for migration.
- Publisher
- Official vehicle or program source
- Title
- Minotaur IV official vehicle reference
- Accessed Date
- 2026-07-29
- Note
- Supports the legacy vehicle installation and the narrow canonical identity used for migration.
- Publisher
- Official vehicle or program source
- Title
- Pegasus XL official vehicle reference
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-20
- Note
- Current Northrop Grumman propulsion catalog identifies exact Orion 38 performance: 38.0-inch diameter, 66.8-second burn time, 8,303 lbf maximum vacuum thrust, 286.97-second effective specific impulse, QDL-1 HTPB polymer propellant with 19% aluminum, and a vectorable nozzle; it marks the motor flight-proven and in production.
- Publisher
- Northrop Grumman
- Title
- Propulsion Products Catalog — Orion 38
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-20
- Note
- Current Northrop Grumman commercial rocket-motors page presents the Orion product line and its Pegasus, Taurus, and Minotaur applications as part of the company space propulsion portfolio.
- Publisher
- Northrop Grumman
- Title
- Commercial Rocket Motors