SMC + OSC Launch New Contract

Three additional Minotaur space launch vehicles, to support the new Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) office, have been ordered by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missiles Systems Center (SMC) — and the recipient of the order is Orbital Sciences Corporation. The Program Office responsible for Minotaur vehicles is the Launch Test Squadron (LTS) of the Space Development and Test Wing (SDTW) at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico. The latest order by the Air Force for Minotaur vehicles, which is valued at approximately 40M/USD, consists of two Minotaur IV vehicles and one Minotaur I vehicle for launches that will take place in 2010-2011. These are the first fully operational launch vehicles procured specifically for ORS since the Program Office was created in May 2007, demonstrating the Air Force’s confidence Orbital’s reliable, cost-effective and responsive family of Minotaur rockets—Dulles, Virginia