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Taurus
29m
Human (1.8m)
1.8m
Taurus / Credits: Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons)
United StatesRetired1994–2011
Taurus
Orbital Sciences
A ground-launched solid rocket by Orbital Sciences — essentially a Pegasus on a pedestal, needing no launch pad.
Taurus is a ground-launched, four-stage solid-propellant rocket derived from the Pegasus. Unlike Pegasus, it launches from a simple ground stand rather than an aircraft. Two high-profile failures — losing NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory and Glory satellite due to fairing separation failures — led to its retirement. Despite this, it had a 7-mission success streak before those failures.
Fun facts
Essentially a Pegasus rocket on a ground stand — shares most components.
Two consecutive failures lost the OCO and Glory climate science satellites.
Launched from Vandenberg with no permanent launch pad — just a concrete slab.
Height
29 m
Diameter
2.34 m
Mass
73 t
Stages
4
Thrust
1,688 kN
Payload LEO
1,320 kg
Payload GTO
—
Total flights
10
Success rate75.0%
7 success1 partial2 failure
Launch pads
- SLC-576E, Vandenberg
- LC-46, Cape Canaveral
No upcoming launches scheduled.
