Taurus

by Jean-Jacques Serra
In 1989 OSC was selected by DARPA to design the Standard Small Launch Vehicle (SSLV). This solid 4-stage rocket called Taurus is made of the first stage of the MX and the 3 stages of Pegasus. The base stage, called stage-0, is a Thiokol TU 903 of 8.4 m long, 2.34 m diameter and 48 tons. It delivers the 3 Pegasus stages at 38000 m altitude at 2030 m/s.

In the future (standard type), the stage-0 will be a Thiokol Castor 120 which is a MX motor modified to provide a weaker acceleration (6.5 G max). Taurus is 27.5 m in height and can launch 1.36 tons in LEO.

Taurus II is a two-stage launch vehicle for medium-class payloads of up to 5,400 kg. First has a liquid-fuelled AJ26 provided by Yuzhnoe (Ukraine). The second stage is a Castor 30 (shortened Castor 120). An optional 3rd stage is planned. Renamed Antares in late 2011.

In Nov 2014, after the latest failure, it was decided to discontinue the use of AJ26 and use alternative launchers in the meantime to provide ISS cargo.

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Taurus versions

Prototype (with MX)	Taurus
Standard Type (with Castor-120)	Taurus-120
stretched standard type	Taurus-120XL
stretched standard type with strap-ons	Taurus-120XL/S

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Taurus launches

#	Launch id	Payload	Launch Date	Site	Type	Status/Comment (orbit in perigee x apogee x inclination x period)
1	94017	A: USA 101 B: USA 102	13 Mar 1994 at 22:32 UT	V 576E	Proto	540 km x 560 km x 105°
2	98007	A: GFO 1 B: Orbcomm FM 3 C: Orbcomm FM 4 D: Celestis 2	10 Feb 1998 at 13:20 UT	V 576E	Castor-120	775 km x 108°
3	98055	A: Stex	3 Oct 1998 at 10:04 UT	V 576E	Proto
4	99070	A: Kompsat 1 B: Acrimsat C: Celestis 3	21 Dec 1999 at 07:12 UT	V 576E	Castor-120
5	00014	MTI	12 Mar 2000 at 09:29 UT	V 576E	Proto
6	n/a	QuickTOMS Orbview 4 Celestis 4	21 Sep 2001 at 18:49 UT	V 576E	Castor-120	failure: second stage veered off course at T+83 seconds. Problem with the vector control actuator.
7	04018	Rocsat 2	20 May 2004 at 17:47 UT	V 576E	3210	729 x 743 km x 99°
8	n/a	OCO	24 Feb 2009 at 09:55 UT	V 576E	3110	Failure: payload failed to separate
9	n/a	Glory E1P (Explorer 1 Prime, Montana State University) KySat 1 (Kentucky Space) Hermes (University of Colorado)	04 Mar 2011 at 10:09 UT	V 576E	3110	Failure: fairing failed to separate.
10	17068	A: Skysat 13 B: Skysat 12 C: Skysat 11 D: Skysat 10 E: Skysat 9 F: Skysat 8 4x Flock 3M	31 Oct 2017 at 21:37 UT	V 576E	3210	Launched also called Minotaur-C (rebranded Taurus-XL)

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Antares (Taurus 2) launches

#	Launch id	Payload	Launch Date	Site	Type	Status/Comment (orbit in perigee x apogee x inclination x period)
1	13016	A: Cygnus Mass Simulator (3770 kg) B: Dove 1 C: PhoneSat v1a D: PhoneSat v1b E: PhoneSat v2asat_phonesat_v1	21 Apr 2013 at 21:00 UT	W 0A	110
2	13051	Cygnus Orb D1	18 Sep 2013 at 14:58 UT	W 0A	110	288 x 256 km x 51.6°
3	14003	Orb 1 Carries nanosatellites to be deployed by ISS	9 Jan 2014 at 18:07 UT	W 0A	120	ISS cargo
4	14039	Orb 2 Carries nanosatellites to be deployed by ISS	13 Jul 2014 at 16:52 UT	W 0A	120	ISS cargo
5	n/a	Orb 3 Was carrying nanosatellites to be deployed by ISS	28 Oct 2014 at 22:22 UT	W 0A	Castor 30XL	Failure: exploded 6 seconds after lift-off. Maybe because of the AJ26 turbopump
6	16062	Cygnus CRS5	17 Oct 2016 ar 23:40 UT	W	230
7	17071	Cygnus CRS8 Asgardia 1	12 Nov 2017 at 12:19 UT	W	230
8	18046	Cygnus CRS9 C: Aerocube 12A~ D: Aerocube 12B~	21 May 2018 at 08:44 UT	W	230
9	18092	A: Cygnus CRS10 E: Chefsat 2 F: Mysat 1 G: Kicksat 2	17 Nov 2018 at 09:01 UT	W	230
10	19022	Cygnus CRS11 C: Aerocube 10B D: Aerocube 10A K: Seeker~ Sassi 2 (3U cubesat) Raavana 1 (Sri Lanka) Nepalisat 1 (Nepal) Thinsat x 12	17 Apr 2019 at 20:46 UT	W	230
11	19071	Cygnus CRS12 STPsat 4 Aerocube 14A~, 14B~, 15A~, 15B~ C: OF 2~ D: Swampsat 2 J: Huskysat 1 (HO-107)~ K: VPM L: Ciris~ M: Makersat 1 R: ORCA 8 ...	02 Nov 2019 at 13:59 UT	W	230+	cargo includes 15 small satellites
12	20011	Cygnus CRS-13 D: Lynk 4	15 Feb 2020 at 18:21 UT	W	230+
13	20069	Cygnus CRS-14	3 Oct 2020 at 01:16 UT	W	230+
14	21013	Cygnus CRS-15 Thinsat 2A to 2I C: Orca 7~ D: Gunsmoke J2~ E: Orca 6~ F: Dhabisat~	20 Feb 2021 at 17:36 UT	W	230+
15	21072	Cygnus CRS-16	10 Aug 2021 at 22:01 UTC	W	230+
16	22015	Cygnus CRS-17 Nachos 1~	19 Feb 2022 at 17:40 UTC	W	230+
17	22149	Cygnus CRS-18	7 Nov 2022 at 10:27 UTC	W	230+
18	23110	Cygnus CRS-19	2 Aug 2023 at 01:31 UTC	W	230+

Launches from Wallops Island

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