The Minotaur II, also known as Chimera, Target Launch Vehicle, Minuteman II TLV or OSP TLV is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 rocket derived from the Minuteman II

LGM-30 Minuteman

The LGM-30 Minuteman is a U.S. nuclear missile, a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile . As of 2010, the version LGM-30G Minuteman-III is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States...

 missile. It is a member of the Minotaur family of rockets produced by Orbital Sciences Corporation

Orbital Sciences Corporation

Orbital Sciences Corporation is an American company which specializes in the manufacturing and launch of satellites. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems...

, and is used for long range suborbital

Sub-orbital spaceflight

A sub-orbital space flight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it does not complete one orbital revolution....

 launches.

Minotaur II rockets consist of the M55A1 first stage and SR19AJ1 second stage of a decommissioned Minuteman missile. The third stage varies depending on the configuration required for the payload. A Minuteman II M57A1 stage is used on the baseline configuration, whilst the Minotaur II+ uses an SR-79-AJ. The Minotaur II Lite is a two stage configuration, without a third stage. A heavy configuration is also available, with an Orion 50XL third stage, as used on the Minotaur I

Minotaur I

The Minotaur I, or just Minotaur is an American expendable launch system derived from the Minuteman II missile. It is used to launch small satellites for the US Government, and is a member of the Minotaur family of rockets produced by Orbital Sciences Corporation.Minotaur I rockets consist of the...

. The baseline configuration can propel a 400 kilograms (881.8 lb) payload into a 4000 kilometres (2,485.5 mi) downrange, whilst the heavy configuration can place 1400 kilograms (3,086.5 lb) onto a 8000 kilometres (4,971 mi) trajectory.

Eight Minotaur IIs have been launched as of May 2009, with six flights using the baseline configuration and two using the Minotaur II+ configuration. Launches are conducted from Launch Facility 06

Vandenberg AFB Launch Facility 06

Vandenberg Air Force Base Launch Facility 06 is a former launch facility on Vandenberg AFB, California.-References:...

.

Launch history

Date (UTC)	Rocket	Flight	Payload	Launch pad	Trajectory	Result
May 28, 2000 20:00	Minotaur II	1	OSP-TLV Missile Defense Technology Demonstrator	Vandenberg LF-06	Suborbital	Success
December 4, 2001 04:59	Minotaur II	2	TLV-1 IFT-7 GMDS target mission	Vandenberg LF-06	Suborbital	Success
March 16, 2002 02:11	Minotaur II	3	TLV-2 IFT-8 GMDS target mission	Vandenberg LF-06	Suborbital	Success
October 15, 2002 02:01	Minotaur II	4	TLV-3 GMDS target mission	Vandenberg LF-06	Suborbital	Success
December 11, 2002 08:26	Minotaur II	5	TLV-4 GMDS target mission	Vandenberg LF-06	Suborbital	Success
March 21, 2007 04:27	Minotaur II	6	TLV-5 FTX-02 SBR target mission	Vandenberg LF-06	Suborbital	Success
August 23, 2007 08:30	Minotaur II+	7	TLV-7 Mission 2a sensor target for NFIRE satellite	Vandenberg LF-06	Suborbital	Success
September 24, 2008 06:57	Minotaur II+	8	TLV-8 Mission 2b sensor target for NFIRE satellite	Vandenberg LF-06	Suborbital	Success