The earliest event was in 1960, the latest event was in 2005.
Human Spaceflight:
1964 – First Lockheed Agena D delivered for Gemini program
1974 – MM X-24B flight 38, Dryden Lake – Pilot Michael Love
Military and Classified Programs:
1976 – LAUNCH: Classified missions, GD Atlas F/MSC, SLC3W, VAFB
1999 – LAUNCH FAILURE: LM Milstar 2 F-1, LM Titan IVB(401)/Centaur, LC40, CCAFS – FAILURE – software parameter error, Centaur
2005 – LAUNCH: USA 182, LM Titan IVB (405), LC40, CCAFS – last Titan launch from the Cape
Exploration and Interplanetary Programs:
1996 – LAUNCH: Beppo SAX, LM Atlas I, LC36B, CCAFS – Italian-Dutch satellite for X-ray astronomy
Earth-Monitoring and Civil Weather Satellite programs:
NONE
Commercial Programs:
NONE
Test, ICBM, FBM programs:
1960 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Polaris A1, LC29A, CCAFS
1965 – LAUNCH: MM Titan II, 395-D, VAFB
1974 – MM M-X (Peacekeeper) contract awards for Aerojet and UT stage developments
1987 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Trident D5, LC47, CCAFS
1990 – LAUNCH: Lockheed Poseidon C3, SSBN642, ETR
2000 – LAUNCH: LM Trident D5, SSBM742, ETR
Other:
NONE
The photo today is the last Titan launch at the Cape in 2005; this launch had a classified payload. One more launch remained at VAFB that occurred on 10/19/2005.
The story below is about the failure of the TIVB-32 launch with Milstar 2 F-1 on this same day (April 30) in 1999:
This date in 1999 also had the third Titan failure in a row, dating back to the last TIVA (TIVA-20) in August 1998. The second failure on April 9 was a problem with the ASCON IUS upper stage, but it still was booked with the public as a Titan failure. TIVB-32 launched to end the month and the Booster phase was nominal. However, a software parameter error (a decimal point error in a coefficient in the denominator of the roll control damping equation) led to an open-loop roll control function that depleted RCS fuel. This caused the vehicle to go out of control and strand the Milstar spacecraft in a useless orbit. The software verification and test processes did not catch the error. BIG recovery for this expensive failure – very painful after all of the extra scrutiny on processes after TIVA-20.
