All launches

STP-S29A

Minotaur IVNorthrop Grumman Space SystemsSpace Launch Complex 8
Tuesday, April 7, 2026 · 11:33 AM UTC
Mission brief

The mission

STP-S29A is a mission under the U.S. Department of Defense's Space Test Program (STP) that will deliver technology demonstrations to orbit and contribute to future space system development, with this launch delivering up to 200 kg of STP cubesats to Low Earth Orbit. The main payload will be STPSat-7, an ESPA class satellite based on the Aegis Aerospace M-1 satellite bus used on the STPSat-4 mission for hosting research and technology demonstration payloads for the Department of Defense (DoD). One of the payload is U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) Lightsheet Anomaly Resolution and Debris Observation (LARADO) instrument, used to detect and characterize lethal non-trackable orbital debris with lasers in orbit.

PayloadSTP-S29A
OrbitLEO
CustomerNorthrop Grumman Space Systems
Stages4
PadSpace Launch Complex 8, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Flight plan

Mission timeline

14 / 14100%
The range

Where it leaves Earth

Launch site

Ground vector

Site locked

Space Launch Complex 8

Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Global range
SITE LOCK
Latitude
34.576°N
Longitude
120.632°W

Can I see this?

Distance and a plain visibility call from a place you choose. Trajectory is not modeled — night launches travel farther across the sky than daylight ones.

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Range weather

Launch commit criteria

Clear
Watch
TrackingNo active constraints
Weather rules

Clear — tracking no weather issues at this time.

Primary concern
No weather issues
Rule count
0
Temperature
Not reported
Surface wind
Not reported
Window

11:30 AM UTC – 04:30 PM UTC

Hardware

Vehicle & provider

Vehicle

Minotaur IV

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Height23.9 m
LEO Payload1,735 kg
Launches17
Successes17
Provider

Northrop Grumman Space Systems

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USA • Founded 2015

Reliability

Schedule history

No meaningful launch-time or status changes recorded.