Minotaur successfully launched

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The Minotaur 1 has finally launched from the Wallops Island Flight Facility with the TacSat-3 and some Cubesats at 23:55 UTC.
Launch was heavily postponed, with several scrubs relating from the weather to the launch vehicle and facility. The 69-foot, four-stage Minotaur I lifted off with the rumble of distant thunder and the brilliance of an acetylene torch, leaving behind a thick contrail rendered pink by the setting sun.
The secondary payloads include NASA’s PharmaSat, which will conduct experiments on yeast cells, and three CubeSats (HawkSat, AeroCube, Calpoly CP6) that will measure electron collection, radiation testing, and guidance and control systems.


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