The final Titan IVB rocket blasted off from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base this week, signaling the end of the Titan line that started in 1959. The Titan IVB heavy-lift booster on Oct. 19 launched a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload into orbit. In all, USAF has launched 39 of the Lockheed Martin-built Titan IVs—12 from Vandenberg and 27 from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. The final Cape Titan IVB launch took place on April 29, 2005. Col. Michael Baker, launch programs director for Space and Missile Systems Command, noted that the Titan team was “confident” it would “deliver one final mission success for the nation.”
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
