Orbital ATK prepares Cape Canaveral launchpad for July Minotaur launch
Week Four: Ninth Anniversary Fund-Raising Drive for Behind the Black
The fourth week of my annual anniversary fund-raising campaign for Behind the Black has begun.
I once again must thank the many readers and listeners who have generously donated this month. Right now there is a chance this will be the best fund-raiser ever, though only if a lot of people donate during the month's last ten days.
If you want to help me continue my reporting, you can give a one-time contribution, from $5 to $100, or a regular subscription for as little as $2 per month.
For one time donations via Paypal, click here:
If Paypal doesn't work for you, you can still support Behind The Black by sending your donation by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman, to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
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The competition heats up: Orbital ATK crews on Sunday practiced stacking stages on a Cape Canaveral launchpad in preparation for a July Minotaur 4 launch of an Air Force surveillance satellite.
Teams this weekend stacked three inert Peacekeeper missiles stages on a launch stand similar to those that will make up the Minotaur IV rocket’s first three stages. Two more Orion 38 stages will fill out the rocket. On Sunday, the first three stages standing more than 50 feet tall were surrounded by puffy white covers that will keep the right temperature during the launch campaign’s summer heat.
Plans called for the mobile gantry to be rolled back on rails to its launch position before the stages are taken down on Monday.
Orbital ATK has been prevented from expanding its Minotaur 4 market beyond military launches because the rocket uses these available but now unused Peacekeeper missiles and is thus very inexpensive. Their competitors have been their influence in Congress to forbid their use commercially.
The fourth week of my annual anniversary fund-raising campaign for Behind the Black has begun.
I once again must thank the many readers and listeners who have generously donated this month. Right now there is a chance this will be the best fund-raiser ever, though only if a lot of people donate during the month's last ten days. If you want to help me continue my reporting, you can give a one-time contribution, from $5 to $100, or a regular subscription for as little as $2 per month.
For one time donations via Paypal, click here:
If Paypal doesn't work for you, you can still support Behind The Black by sending your donation by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman, to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
The competition heats up: Orbital ATK crews on Sunday practiced stacking stages on a Cape Canaveral launchpad in preparation for a July Minotaur 4 launch of an Air Force surveillance satellite.
Teams this weekend stacked three inert Peacekeeper missiles stages on a launch stand similar to those that will make up the Minotaur IV rocket’s first three stages. Two more Orion 38 stages will fill out the rocket. On Sunday, the first three stages standing more than 50 feet tall were surrounded by puffy white covers that will keep the right temperature during the launch campaign’s summer heat.
Plans called for the mobile gantry to be rolled back on rails to its launch position before the stages are taken down on Monday.
Orbital ATK has been prevented from expanding its Minotaur 4 market beyond military launches because the rocket uses these available but now unused Peacekeeper missiles and is thus very inexpensive. Their competitors have been their influence in Congress to forbid their use commercially.
Got a new tank round too…
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Orbital_ATK_to_complete_development_of_new_tank_ammo_999.html
Is this the beginning of releasing hundreds of ex-ICBMs of the US to be converted into launching payloads to orbit? The correspondence of which has been a big thing in the ex-Soviet half of that of ex-ICBM fleet after the end of the cold war.
If so,m this is another in itself decisively bad reason against trying to develop a dedicated small satellite launcher in our days. That hardware already existed all along in the scrap heaps, and can launch all that small stuff for the next decade or so. Good luck competing with rockets at junk yard prices.