NGSS Minotaur IV STP-S29A
Minotaur IV
Status
Success
Date
7 APR 2026
11:33
Launch Provider
Northrop Grumman Space Systems
Launch Pad
Space Launch Complex 8
Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Mission Overview
STP-S29A is a mission under the U.S. Department of Defense's Space Test Program (STP) that will deliver technology demonstrations to orbit and contribute to future space system development, with this launch delivering up to 200 kg of STP cubesats to Low Earth Orbit. The main payload will be STPSat-7, an ESPA class satellite based on the Aegis Aerospace M-1 satellite bus used on the STPSat-4 mission for hosting research and technology demonstration payloads for the Department of Defense (DoD). One of the payload is U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) Lightsheet Anomaly Resolution and Debris Observation (LARADO) instrument, used to detect and characterize lethal non-trackable orbital debris with lasers in orbit.
Rocket
Minotaur IV
Mission Type
Technology
Orbit
Low Earth Orbit
Stages
4
Livestream
Rocket Details
The Minotaur IV launch system is derived from the Peacekeeper ICBM. The first three stages are taken directly from decommissioned Peacekeeper missiles. A fourth stage, the Orion-38, is taken from the Pegasus family of air-launched rockets.
Height
23.9 m
Diameter
2.35 m
Launch Mass
86 T
Thrust
2,200 kN