16 April 2025 year Fr. 19:33 (UTC) from the vandenberg airbase, California, USA using a launch vehicle «Minotaur IV» the mission was launched «NROL-174».
KA mission «NROL-174» has a completely secret nature, since the main customer is the US National Intelligence Service, and therefore the assignment of the KA mission «NROL-174» not announced and currently unknown.
Information on this KA mission is available in open sources «NROL-174» absent.
«Minotaur IV» — four-stage light-class launch vehicle, developed by Northrop Grumman. It uses three stages from the Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missile and an Orion upper stage 38. The rocket is capable of launching into low Earth orbit up to 1591 kg of payload. «Minotaur IV» characterized by high reliability and flexibility, supporting launches from various spaceports, including Vandenberg, Canaveral and Wallops.
The first launch took place in 2010 year, and since then the rocket has been successfully produced as a commercial one, and secret payloads, including missions for NRO and other US military projects. This is the first rocket launch «Minotaur IV» from the spaceport of Vandenberg Air Force Base with 2011 year.
According to the CCS