This is an updated version of the story first posted at 4 a.m. EDT, Aug. 6.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Turning night into day, America's heavy lifting Titan 4B rocket blasted off from Florida's Space Coast early Monday morning, successfully sending a new Defense Support Program (DSP) missile warning satellite on a seven-hour journey into Earth orbit.
Liftoff of the $460 million Air Force Titan 4B from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station came at 3:28 a.m. EDT (0728 GMT) Monday with the ignition of the Titan's twin solid rocket boosters, which are second only to the Space Shuttle's in size and power.
The view along Florida's Space Coast was nothing short of spectacular as the giant rocket tore through a layer of clouds, casting a wild, moving shadow in the sky. Seconds later the booster's exhaust turned a brilliant orange with hints of cool blue as the Titan 4B streaked downrange over the Atlantic Ocean.
Finally appearing as a bright star setting in the east, that view was followed by the second stage burn, which shut down as planned about nine minutes after launch, placing the DSP and its attached Inertial Upper Stage into a parking orbit, according to Lockheed Martin's Titan launch commentator, David Welch.
During the next few hours the two-stage IUS finished the job of placing the high-flying observation post into its final orbit, resulting in spacecraft separation about 10:30 a.m. EDT."The satellite is right where it is supposed to be and working as expected," said Lt. Warren Comer, a spokesman for the 45th Space Wing located here at Patrick Air Force Base.
This DSP is the 21st in a series that has covered three decades of service using heat-sensing instruments to detect missile launches and nuclear explosions anywhere on the planet and then instantaneously relay that information to the Pentagon.
One more DSP is scheduled for launch during the next few years before the system is replaced by the more advanced Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) in the 2006-7 timeframe.
Critics complain the DSP system is no longer needed in a world devoid of the Soviet Union, but program managers stress the world is still a dangerous place and the United States continues to need the information these DSP spacecraft provide, while also preparing for future programs related to the National Missile Defense.
"It certainly is not a relic of the Cold War. It is a continuation of our legacy over 30 years of successfully doing the mission of early missile warning," said Col. Charles Cornell, the deputy program director of the Air Force's SBIRS effort.
In addition to providing warnings of actual missile launches, the DSP satellites also allows the Pentagon to keep an eye on the missile programs of China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and other emerging nuclear powers.
DSP's sensitive infrared sensors detected Iraqi Scud missile launches during the Persian Gulf War and identified the first test firing of a new Iranian missile in 1998, while regularly conducting such non-military events as observing meteors burning up in the atmosphere and monitoring the spread of forest fires.
When deployed by the Air Force later this decade, the infrared sensors on the SBIRS spacecraft are expected to be far more sensitive that those installed on the current DSP early warning satellites, theoretically allowing missile detection much earlier.
As a result, DSP satellites are expected to continue to play a key role in testing missile defense technology, Cornell said.
"The first step in trying to do anything like that involves early warning and so that's why this is a continuation of that mission," Cornell said.
As for the Titan 4 program, today's shot marks the second this year for the Air Force's mightiest spacelifter.
A July 27 launch attempt was called off because of last-minute troubles with a navigation system on the rocket's second stage. The suspect hardware was replaced, forcing the 10-day delay.
Two more Titan 4 launches are possible by the end of the year, with one from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and one from Cape Canaveral, officials said.
That Cape flight, however, currently is scheduled for January -- but Titan 4 launch director Lt. Col. Dave Jones said he is hopeful the mission to deliver a Milstar communications satellite can be advanced a couple of weeks, putting the launch in December.
Altogether, there are now only seven Titan 4 launches remaining before the Air Force retires the rocket in favor of the Delta 4 and Atlas 5 launchers that are part of the new Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, said Air Force Titan 4 program manager Col. Mike Dunn.
There are four missions scheduled for the National Reconnaissance Office, two more Milstars and one more DSP, Dunn said.
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