This is from a posting a while back before the START II treaty shut them down. It doesn't specify the minuteman. Does anyone know if
the eagle series is used in the minuteman? Here you go though this is what I found on this company which sounded very exciting when I read it.
E'Prime Aerospace
E'Prime Aerospace Corporation has successfully
completed design, developed technology and acquired permits
and licenses for the Eagle S-Series launch vehicles.
The E'Prime Eagle S-Series commercial launch vehicles
are derived from Peacekeeper technology. The Peacekeeper,
the last generation ICBM, has had 41 consecutive successful
launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
E'Prime Aerospace deploys solid booster rocket
technology for the Eagle S-Series launch vehicles. Eagle
canister launch vehicle capabilities range from delivering a
satellite payload of 1200 pounds to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to
over 10,000 pounds to LEO or over 4,500 pounds to
Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). The Eaglet, Eagle, SI
and SII are canister launched vehicles. The Eagle can
deliver 3,000 pounds to 100 nautical mile LEO at a current
price of $12 million. First launch of the Eagle series is
anticipated in the first quarter of 1999.
The larger Eagle SIII through SVI launch vehicles,
utilising strap-ons, are launched from a conventional hot
pad. Launch vehicle capabilities range to delivering over
40,000 pounds to LEO and over 13,000 pounds to GTO. Current
plans are to launch the large vehicles from Cape Canaveral.
The canister launch does not require construction of a
conventional hot pad and allows for repetitive launches at a
rate of one per week. In a canister launch, steam from a
hot gas generator propels the rocket 200 feet in the air
where ignition takes place. This canister launch system, a
combination of solid propellant stages and bi-propellant
liquid upper stage, permits the Eagles to outperform older
and costlier rocket launchers on the market. The system
provides simplified vehicle and payload processing: Eagle
assembly and checkout requires only 5 days and a crew of 12.
Stages are shipped from the manufacturer in canister
segments which serve as shipping containers.
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