Rocket With Defense Satellite Launched

An Air Force rocket thundered into space with a missile-warning satellite in the first Titan IV flight since a spectacular $1-billion launch explosion last August. The Titan IV-B, the nation’s largest unmanned rocket, hoisted a Pentagon satellite capable of detecting missile launches as well as nuclear blasts, officials at Cape Canaveral, Fla., said. The Air Force put the cost of the mission at $682 million. The newly launched satellite, essentially a 2 1/2-ton infrared telescope, should become operational in three to six months, officials said.