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Minotaur VI

Minotaur VI is an unflown five-stage heavy member of the Minotaur family under development. It adds a second Peacekeeper-derived lower stage to the Minotaur IV architecture to raise low Earth orbit capability to approximately 3,100 kilograms while retaining the family’s government-motor and commercial-avionics approach.

Minotaur VI
NASA / Carla Cioffi · NASA asset; NASA Image Library item 201309060002HQ identifies the exact Minotaur V/LADEE image and credits NASA / Carla Cioffi. NASA’s current Images and Media Usage Guidelines generally permit factual or informational/editorial use with NASA attribution and without implying NASA endorsement. Commercial, promotional, merchandise, logo/insignia, identifiable-person, or other protected-rights use may require separate clearance; verify before such use. · Source
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Identity

Aliases
Minotaur 6
Family Name
Minotaur
Full Name
Minotaur VI
Status
development
Type
rocket
Variant Name
VI

Details

Description
Minotaur VI is an unflown five-stage heavy member of the Minotaur family under development. It adds a second Peacekeeper-derived lower stage to the Minotaur IV architecture to raise low Earth orbit capability to approximately 3,100 kilograms while retaining the family’s government-motor and commercial-avionics approach.
Manufacturer
Operator
Parent Vehicle Family
Propulsion Configurations
  • Entries
    • Count
      1
      Placement
      core
      Propulsion System
      Role
      main
      Stage
      first-stage
      Variant Notes
      Additional first-stage SR118 Peacekeeper-derived solid motor added for Minotaur VI.
    • Count
      1
      Placement
      core
      Propulsion System
      Role
      main
      Stage
      second-stage
      Variant Notes
      Second sequential SR118 Peacekeeper-derived solid motor retained from the Minotaur IV+ stack.
    • Count
      1
      Placement
      core
      Propulsion System
      Role
      main
      Stage
      third-stage
      Variant Notes
      SR119 Peacekeeper-derived third-stage solid motor.
    • Count
      1
      Placement
      core
      Propulsion System
      Role
      upper-stage
      Stage
      fourth-stage
      Variant Notes
      SR120 Peacekeeper-derived fourth-stage solid motor.
    • Count
      1
      Placement
      upper
      Propulsion System
      Role
      upper-stage
      Stage
      fifth-stage
      Variant Notes
      STAR 48BV fifth-stage motor; kept distinct from STAR 48B and STAR 37 variants.
    Name
    Minotaur VI five-stage propulsion
    Notes
    Northrop Grumman's unflown Minotaur VI concept adds a second Peacekeeper-derived SR118 below the Minotaur IV+ stack: SR118, SR118, SR119, SR120, and STAR 48BV. The two SR118 motors are separate sequential stages and must not be collapsed into one installation entry.
Rocket Specs
Payload Capacity
LEO
…
Reusability
expendable
Stages Count
5

Links

Official Url
https://cdn.northropgrumman.com/-/media/Project/Northrop-Grumman/ngc/what-we-do/space/launch-vehicles/minotaur/Minotaur-IV-V-VI-User-Guide.pdf
Wikipedia Url
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur_(rocket_family)#Minotaur_VI

Assets & Meta

Creation Time
July 13, 2026 at 10:55:48 UTC
Updated Time
August 1, 2026 at 12:50:43 UTC
Image
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