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TITAN II SET TO LAUNCH
Vandenberg AFB News Release
(Vandenberg AFB, OCT 10) The era of Titan II space boosters comes to a close Wednesday as the last Titan II blasts off of Space Launch Complex-4 West here. The launch window is from 9:17 to 9:28* a.m. The rocket will carry a 4,200-pound Defense Meteorological Satellite Program payload into low Earth orbit approximately 458 nautical miles above the Earth. This is the first DMSP launch in four years. The DMSP satellite constellation monitors the Earth's atmosphere and oceans providing nearly complete coverage of global cloud distribution every six hours.
This final launch is a joint effort between the men and women of the 30th Space Wing, Space and Missile Systems Center, Lockheed Martin, and Aerojet. The Titan program is being phased out as the Air Force moves toward the more cost-effective, efficient Evolved Expendable launch vehicle program.
The first Titan II rocket took off from Vandenberg AFB Sept. 5, 1988. There have been 70 Titan II missile and rocket launches from Vandenberg AFB, according to the 30th Space Wing historian.
Posted by Ted at October 13, 2003 04:05 PM