The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), U.S. Space Force's (USSF) Space Launch Delta 30, and USSF Space Systems Command's small launch and targets division launched defense and intelligence payloads aboard NROL-174 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., on Wednesday. Carrying the payloads was a Northrop Grumman [NOC] Minotaur IV rocket in what NRO said was the first Minotaur launch for NRO from Vandenberg since 2011. A decommissioned Peacekeeper ICBM supplies Minotaur IV with solid rocket motors for its first three stages,…
