[6][7] The Taurus launch vehicle was subsequently rebranded in 2014 as Minotaur-C,[8] which incorporates new avionics based on those used by the Minotaur family of rockets.

[15] Liftoff occurred successfully at 09:55 UTC from Vandenberg Air Force Base, but data received at a later stage of the flight suggested that the fairing failed to separate.

[17][18][19] On 4 March 2011, a Taurus XL rocket failed again during the launch of NASA's US$424 million Glory climate change monitoring satellite.

Ronald Grabe, manager of Orbital Sciences Corporation, which also built the Glory satellite itself, said the employees of his companies are "pretty devastated" because of the latest failure.

A NASA MIB panel concluded that the failure was most likely caused by a section of the frangible rail somewhere near the nose cap failing to separate.

[20] A continued investigation eventually revealed that sub-standard parts provided by Sapa Profiles, Inc. (SPI) with falsified test results were the likely cause of both of the OCO and Glory fairing failures.