Titan 4 launches early warning satellite
Posted: Sun, Feb 15, 2004, 8:49 AM ET (1349 GMT) A Titan 4B rocket successfully launched a missile early warning satellite Saturday afternoon. The Titan 4B lifted off from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral at 1:50 pm EST (1850 GMT) and placed the Defense Support Program (DSP) 22 satellite into geosynchronous orbit nearly seven hours later. The satellite, built by Northrop Grumman, will be used to provide early warning of missile launches worldwide. DSP-22 is the next-to-last spacecraft in the program, with the final satellite, DSP-23, scheduled for launch in early 2005 on a Delta 4. The program is being phased out in favor of the SBIRS-High system under development. The launch was also the penultimate launch of a Titan 4 from Cape Canaveral, with the final one scheduled for October. One more Titan 4 launch is scheduled for next year from Vandenberg Air Force Base. This launch was also the last flight of the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) used on Titan 4 and Space Shuttle missions.
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