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Minotaur-C Commercial Launch Vehicle

Minotaur-C is Northrop Grumman’s upgraded commercial continuation of Taurus XL. The four-stage all-solid vehicle combines a Castor 120 first stage with Orion upper stages and configurable fairings for small satellites to low Earth and Sun-synchronous orbits.

Minotaur-C Commercial Launch Vehicle
U.S. Air Force / 30th Space Wing · Public domain in the United States as a work of the U.S. federal government; the exact Wikimedia Commons record for this byte-matched 10 February 1998 Taurus-2210 launch photograph identifies the U.S. Air Force / 30th Space Wing as the source and author and records the work as a U.S. Air Force public-domain image. Retain the credit to U.S. Air Force / 30th Space Wing. Public-domain status may not apply identically in every jurisdiction, and this does not grant trademark, personality, or other third-party rights or imply endorsement. · Source
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Identity

Aliases
Minotaur CMinotaur CommercialTaurus XL (renamed)
Family Name
Minotaur-C
Full Name
Minotaur-C Commercial Launch Vehicle
Status
active
Type
rocket
Variant Name
Minotaur-C

Details

Description
Minotaur-C is Northrop Grumman’s upgraded commercial continuation of Taurus XL. The four-stage all-solid vehicle combines a Castor 120 first stage with Orion upper stages and configurable fairings for small satellites to low Earth and Sun-synchronous orbits.
Dimensions
Diameter
…
Height
…
First Flight Year
2,017
Manufacturer
Operator
Parent Vehicle Family
Propulsion Configurations
  • Entries
    • Count
      1
      Placement
      core
      Propulsion System
      Role
      main
      Stage
      first-stage
      Variant Notes
      One exact CASTOR 120 first-stage solid motor.
    • Count
      1
      Placement
      core
      Propulsion System
      Role
      main
      Stage
      second-stage
      Variant Notes
      One exact Orion 50S XLT second-stage motor; the S suffix marks its first-stage-derived Orion configuration while the Minotaur-C vehicle table places it in stage 2.
    • Count
      1
      Placement
      upper
      Propulsion System
      Role
      upper-stage
      Stage
      third-stage
      Variant Notes
      One exact Orion 50 XLT third-stage motor.
    • Count
      1
      Placement
      upper
      Propulsion System
      Role
      upper-stage
      Stage
      fourth-stage
      Variant Notes
      One exact Orion 38 fourth-stage motor.
    Name
    Minotaur-C four-stage commercial configuration
    Notes
    Northrop's exact Taurus XL/Minotaur-C motor application: CASTOR 120 first stage, Orion 50S XLT second stage, Orion 50 XLT third stage, and Orion 38 fourth stage. This remains distinct from Minotaur I/IV/V/VI government-furnished lower-stage stacks and from the unconfigured Minotaur parent family.
Rocket Specs
Liftoff Mass
…
Payload Capacity
LEO
…
SSO
…
Reusability
expendable
Stages Count
4

Links

Official Url
https://public.ksc.nasa.gov/lspeducation/northrop-grumman/
Wikipedia Url
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur-C

Assets & Meta

Creation Time
July 13, 2026 at 11:06:40 UTC
Updated Time
August 1, 2026 at 16:23:12 UTC
Image
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