"If that's not rocket science I'm not sure what is," said Christine Anderson, director of Military Satellite Communications at the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. "We're very excited about this and it's very important for our nation."

Launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 7:30 p.m. EST, the 20-story Titan 4B rocket lit up Florida's Space Coast as it thundered downrange carrying the Milstar 2 satellite.

Security around the Cape remained tight.

"As we demonstrated for the shuttle launch in December and again for this launch, the Air Force will take all reasonable measures to protect America's national space assets and missions," said Maj. Mike Rein, spokesman for the 45th Space Wing. "And we plan on doing it for all future launches as well."

Rein said the Air Force had significant firepower in place for the launch to counter any possible terrorist threat. F-15 Eagles from the 125th Fighter Wing at Jacksonville, Fla., flew combat air patrol missions over the Space Coast and several ground assets also were deployed in the area.

There were no incidents reported, said 45th Space Wing spokesman Ken Warren.

Mighty Titan

Built by Lockheed Martin with the lifting capability of a space shuttle, the Titan 4B and its attached Centaur upper stage -- nicknamed "Duke" in honor of Lockheed Martin manager Kenneth Dudschus, who is retiring -- took six hours, 35 minutes and 30 seconds to deliver the Milstar 2 into an orbit 22,300 miles (35,897 kilometers) above the equator.

Spacecraft separation -- the point at which the launch phase of a mission is declared a success -- came just after 2:05 a.m. EST Wednesday and was announced about 45 minutes later.

"The satellite is on target and its solar arrays deployed as planned. We have a fully functional satellite in the proper orbit," said Capt. Patrick Youngson, chief of the MILSATCOM Operations Section at Headquarters Air Force Space Command.

For the Titan launch team at the Cape, the $453 million shot marked the first time in program history that a launch took place exactly on the date set following the previous Titan launch.

"It's been a totally remarkable effort by the entire team," said Lt. Col. Dave Jones, commander of the 3rd Space Launch Squadron at the air station.

The first launch of a Titan 4 was in June 1989, and counting this latest mission there have been a total 34 launches flown from either the Cape or Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, of which all but four have successfully delivered their cargo to orbit.

Two more Titan 4 missions from Cape Canaveral are planned in July and November and then the final Titan 4 to fly from the Cape is likely to launch in mid 2003, Jones said.

"This is the first flight of what will be a busy year for our launch vehicle team," said G. Thomas Marsh, president of Lockheed Martin Astronautics Operations. "The Titan team remains committed to the mission of the U.S. Air Force in providing spacelift for our nation's most critical payloads,"

As these last few boosters are launched, Jones said the Air Force will have a chance to smoothly make the transition from the Titan 4 to the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle, specifically the heavy lift version of the Delta 4.

In the meantime, Jones said, the Launch Squadron will continue to concentrate on Titan 4 launch operations, which in November means the launch of yet another Lockheed Martin built Milstar, which will be the sixth and final spacecraft in that series.

Milstar Flight 5

Costing taxpayers $800 million, the Milstar launched Tuesday joins three others already in orbit and operational. A fourth satellite, launched in 1999, failed to reach its proper orbit and was declared a loss.

With the successful arrival in orbit of a new Milstar, this officially completes the planned constellation of spacecraft needed to form an unbroken communications link around the planet. With four satellites evenly separated over the equator, each can exchange signals directly with counterparts to the east and west.

It's because of this capability that Milstar earned its nickname as a "switchboard in the sky," said Capt. Chris Troyer of the 3rd Space Launch Squadron.

"Milstar provides our command and control to all of our U.S. forces worldwide. We consider it our switchboard in space because it allows us to transmit voice, data, imagery and video teleconferencing pretty much instantaneously around the world," Troyer said.

Originally designed to deal with the realities of a nuclear war with the Soviet Union, critics have long blasted the Milstar system as an expensive relic from an earlier age that wasted taxpayer money.

"Milstar is really the T-Rex of Cold War era satellite dinosaurs. It is big, expensive and obsolete. It has never lived up to its expectations," said Dwayne Day, a space policy analyst and visiting fellow at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

"Despite that, it has probably been heavily used by the U.S. special forces operating in Afghanistan. Milstar ground terminals have small antennas, meaning that a special forces squad could easily have a satellite hookup to relay information back to headquarters" said Day.

Military officials confirm they rely heavily on the Milstar system and look forward to a time about 120 days from now when this Milstar is considered fully checked out and declared operational.

"Milstar is the most secure and most jam resistant com satellite in the world," Anderson said. "We think of Milstar sort of as the FedEx of the com satellites. If you have to get a message through, use Milstar."

Next Generation

As a response to this growing dependency on space-based communications, the Defense Department accelerated development of an Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite communications program to replace Milstar.

In May 2000, rivals Lockheed Martin, Boeing and TRW jointly formed a national team to build the AEHF satellite system on a non-competitive basis, theoretically to speed up deployment.

Published reports, however, indicate this ambitious project is now behind schedule, over budget and without the participation of one of its original players.

Boeing, citing an unacceptable level of risk in relation to a smaller share of the contract, recently dropped out of the effort, leaving only Lockheed Martin and TRW to press forward.

Originally targeted for a December 2004 launch, delivery of the first AEHF spacecraft has now officially slipped more than a year into 2006, and many in the Air Force are skeptical that even that delayed target date can be achieved.

In a scenario reminiscent of Milstar, AEHF development costs have also spiked. The original plan of five satellites costing about $2.5 billion has now become a three-satellite project costing at least $4.3 billion, according to published reports.

At a recent conference, the commander of the Air Forces Space and Missile Systems Center, Lt. Gen. Brian Arnold complained: "In virtually every one of our major programs we are out of control on cost and schedule."