NATION : Titan 3 Maiden Flight Postponed
Tonight’s maiden flight of a Titan 3 rocket, America’s most powerful commercially developed booster, was postponed 24 hours because of a computer software problem.
The 1.5-million-pound rocket had been scheduled to lift off at 7:15 p.m. from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station next to Kennedy Space Center.
Mounted in a protective nose cone of the $100-million rocket are two state-of-the-art communications satellites: Skynet 4A, a British military relay station, and JCSAT 2, owned by Japan Communications Satellite Co.
But the long-awaited flight had to be postponed because of a computer programming problem that could have prevented one of the satellites on board from being released from the Titan’s second stage into orbit.
More to Read
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.