NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory failed to reach orbit after the Taurus XL rocket's payload fairing failed to separate during ascent from Vandenberg; the added mass kept the spacecraft from reaching orbital velocity and it crashed into the Indian Ocean near Antarctica.
- Outcome
- Failure
- Orbit
- LEO
- Low Earth orbit
- Payload to orbit
- Did not reach orbit
- Flight
- 1st
- Only Minotaur-C 3110 flight
- Date and time
- 24 February 2009, 09:55 UTC
- Rocket
- Minotaur-C 3110
- Builder
- OSC
- Launch site
- Space Launch Complex 576E, Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
- Payload
- Earth Science
- Launches in 2009
- 9th of 78