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 rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
