Titan family | |
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The Titan rocket family. | |
Role | Expendable launch system with various applications |
Manufacturer | Glenn L. Martin Company |
First flight | 1958-12-20[1] |
Introduction | 1959 |
Retired | 2005 |
Status | out of service |
Primary users | United States Air Force National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
Produced | 1957–2000s (decade) |
Number built | 368 |
Variants | Titan I Titan II Titan IIIA Titan IIIB Titan IIIC Titan IIID Titan IIIE Titan IIIM Titan 34D Titan IV |
Titan was a family of United States expendable rockets used between 1959 and 2005. The Titan I and Titan II were part of the US Air Force's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fleet until 1987. The space launch vehicle versions contributed the majority of the 368 Titan launches, including all the Project Gemini crewed flights of the mid-1960s. Titan vehicles were also used to lift US military payloads as well as civilian agency reconnaissance satellites and to send interplanetary scientific probes throughout the Solar System.