Northrop Grumman Minotaur II

The Minotaur II is a suborbital target vehicle in the Minotaur family of American solid-fuel launch vehicles, which Northrop Grumman builds under the United States Space Force's Rocket Systems Launch Program. Rather than being designed from nothing, it is derived from the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile, with Orbital guidance and control systems fitted. It consists of an M55A1 first stage, an SR19 second stage and an M57 third stage, and it can carry a payload of 460 kilograms (1,010 lb) on a suborbital trajectory of 6,700 kilometres (4,200 mi). Within the family it is one of the two variants descended from the Minuteman, the other being the Minotaur I, while the Minotaur IV, the Minotaur V and the cancelled Minotaur III descend from the Peacekeeper missile. It differs from the Minotaur I, which launches small satellites into low Earth orbit, in serving primarily as a target for suborbital tests instead of as an orbital launcher.