Titan IIIC on NASA Launch Pad (1:400 scale)
- The Titan family of expendable rockets was extremely successful, with a total of 368 launches between 1959 & 2005. One of the rockets from this family was the IIIC, this being a space booster used for US Air Force missions. Built by Martin Marietta this rocket firts flew on 18 June 1965 with its final launch taking place in 1982.
The Titan IIIC was indispensible in launching large payloads into space, serving as the largest, unmanned space booster until the Titan IV entered service in 1988. A 13.1 tonne payload could be sent into a low-earth orbit or 3 tonnes could be sent into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
One of the Titan IIIC"s strengths was its flexibility, as it could utilise no upper stage or one of two optional stages. This meant that the 42 metre long rocket could carry a variety of payloads depending on the mission.