Minotaur I Rocket Will Carry 29 Small Satellites Into Space

A United States Air Force Minotaur I rocket is scheduled to lift-off at 1930 EST, Nov.19, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's Pad-0B at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The Minotaur will launch the Air Force's Operationally Responsive Space Office's ORS-3 mission, which features the deployment of 29 satellites in space. The launch window is 1930 to 2130 EST. The backup launch days run through November 26.

The launch may be visible, depending on atmospheric conditions at one's viewing site, from northern Florida to southern Canada and west to Indiana.

The ORS-3 Mission, also known as an enabler mission, will demonstrate and validate launch and range improvements for NASA and the military. These include automated trajectory targeting, range-safety planning and flight termination systems. The launch also will be part of theFAA's certification process for the Minotaur rocket. The FAA has licensing authority over American commercial rockets.

The Minotaur's primary payload is the Space Test Program Satellite-3 (STPSat-3), an Air Force technology-demonstration mission. Thirteen small cubesats aboard are being provided through NASA's Cubesat Launch Initiative. Among the cubesats is NASA's Small Satellite Program PhoneSat 2 second generation smartphone mission. Also included is the first cubesat built by high school students.

The NASA Visitor Center at Wallops and the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge/Assateague Island National Seashore will be open for viewing the launch. Visitors to Assateague need to be on the island by 6 p.m. before the entrance gate closes.

(Minotaur rocket image from file)

FMI: http://go.usa.gov/Wgbd