Missile Scrap Sent Into Orbit

An Air Force rocket built from the scrapped parts of Minuteman II missiles lifted off Wednesday night carrying into orbit about a dozen small satellites developed by university students.

The first two stages of the 6-stage Orbital Suborbital Program rocket, informally called the Minotaur, consisted of engines from Minuteman II missiles decommissioned under a 1991 arms control treaty. The third and fourth stages were from a commercial rocket.

It was the first launch into orbit for the program that cobbled together Cold War leftovers.

Using a hybrid rocket shaves about 30 percent off the cost of sending a payload into orbit, said Air Force Maj. Steven Buckley, the mission's flight director. Though the first flight cost about $23 million, future launches could drop to about $13 million each.

"We wanted to make sure we had a payload that was important but ... no impact on national defense if something happened," Buckley said. "We looked at the community to see who was doing important scientific work but not necessarily critical work."