Space Launch
Space Launch
Northrop Grumman has conducted nearly 100 space launch missions, boosting hundreds of satellites into space.
Northrop Grumman built the world’s first privately-developed space launch vehicle. Since then, we have conducted nearly 100 space launch missions with our Pegasus®, Minotaur™ and Antares™ space launch vehicles, boosting hundreds of satellites into space.
Antares
Designed to provide responsive and low-cost access to space, the Antares rocket is a two-stage vehicle that provides low-Earth orbit (LEO) launch capability for payloads weighing up to 8,000 kg. The rocket’s upgraded design features newly-built RD-181 first stage engines to provide greater payload performance and increased reliability.
Minotaur
Under the U.S. Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center’s Small Launch and Targets Division Orbital Services Program-4 (OSP-4), Northrop Grumman integrates, tests and provides space launch services for the Minotaur I, IV, V, VI and C family of rockets.
Employing a combination of U.S. government-supplied rocket motors and the company’s proven commercial launch technologies, the Minotaur rocket family provides low-cost and reliable access to space for government-sponsored payloads. To date, our Minotaur rockets have completed 28 missions out of every major U.S. spaceport, demonstrating the vehicle’s unique versatility and reliability.
Pegasus
The three-stage Pegasus rocket is used to deploy small satellites weighing up to 1,000 pounds (454 kg) into low-earth orbit. Pegasus is carried aloft by our Stargazer L-1011 aircraft to approximately 40,000 feet over open ocean, where it is released and free-falls for five seconds before igniting its first stage rocket motor. With its unique delta-shaped wing, Pegasus typically delivers satellites into orbit in a little over 10 minutes. First flown in 1990, Pegasus has conducted 45 missions launching nearly 100 spacecraft.