Titan Flight History Page 3 of 3 Comprehensive Orbital Titan Failure List Date Vehicle ID Site Payload Failure Description Result# -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9/1/1964 Titan-3A 3A-2 CC LC20 Transtage 1 TS* He valv; 391s burn, 15s short FTO 10/15/1965 Titan-3C 3C-4 CC LC40 LCS 2/OV-2 1 TS fld before 3rd burn; OX leak; tumbled (LEO) 12/21/1965 Titan-3C 3C-8 CC LC41 LES 3,4/OV-2 3/Oscar 4 TS 3rd burn fld; stuck OX valve; no sep (GTO) 8/26/1966 Titan-3C 3C-12 CC LC41 IDCSP(8-14)/GGTS 2 Early P/L shroud sep; RSO at T+83s FTO 4/26/1967 Titan-3B 3B-5 V SLC4W KH-8 5 2nd stage low thrust FTO 11/6/1970 Titan-3C 3C-19 CC LC40 DSP 1 TS last burn failed, sat unusable sub-GEO (GTO) 2/16/1972 Titan-33B 3B-37 V SLC4W Jumpseat Agena Failed FTO 5/20/1972 Titan-24B 3B-35 V SLC4W KH-8 35 Agena control gas reg failed during ascent FTO 6/26/1973 Titan-24B 3B-43 V SLC4W KH-8 39 Agena fuel valve failure FTO [1] 2/11/1974 Titan-3E 3E-1 CC LC41 Sphinx/Viking SD Centaur start failed; LOX boost pump FTO 5/20/1975 Titan-3C 3C-25 CC LC40 DSCS-2 5/DSCS-2 6 TS guidnce IMU failed, decyd 5/26 (LEO) 3/25/1978 Titan-3C 3C-35 CC LC40 DSCS-2 9/DSCS-2 10 Stg 2 hydraulic pump; Rng Safety (RSO) FTO 4/24/1981 Titan-34B 3B-60 V SLC4W Jumpseat Agena low apogee (39377km plan). No sep (EEO) 8/28/1985 Titan-34D 34D-7 V SLC4E KH-11 7 1st stg shutdown after start, fuel leak FTO 4/18/1986 Titan-34D 34D-9 V SLC4E KH-9 20/SSF-D 6 SRM** expolded T+16s FTO 9/2/1988 Titan-34D 34D-3 CC LC40 Chalet 5 (Vortex 5) TS last burn failed, no GEO (GTO) 3/14/1990 Commrcl-T3 CT-2 CC LC40 Intelsat-6 3/Orbus-21S 2nd stg no sep frm Orbus (Titan design) (LEO) 8/2/1993 Titan-403A K-11 V SLC4E NOSS 13 + 3 Subsat SRM exploded T+101s FTO 10/5/1993 Titan-23G 23G-5 V SLC4W Landsat 6 Star-37 third stage failed FTO 8/12/1998 Titan 401A A-20 CC LC41 Vortex 2 (NRO) Expld T+41.3s, Pwr glitch caused pitchover FTO 4/9/1999 Titan 402B B-27 CC LC41 DSP 19 IUS% SRM-2 apogee failed due SRM-1 bad sep (GTO) 4/30/1999 Titan 401B B-32 CC LC40 Milstar 2 F1 Bad Centaur attitude control software (EEO) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Footnotes: * TS: Transtage (Hypergolic upper stage manufactured by Martin (Marietta) % IUS: Intertial Upper Stage (Two-unit solid motor upper stage manufactured by Boeing) ** SRM: segmented Solid Rocket Motor used on Titan 3C, 34D, 4xxA (manufactured by Alliant) # FTO: Failed to Orbit (EEO): Unintended Eliptical Earth Orbit (GTO): Unintended Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (LEO): Unintended Low Earth Orbit [1] Perry's NRO history claims that a Titan fuel tank leak began at T+12 sec. A later NRO history blames the failure on the Agena Bell engine fuel valve failing to open, preventing Agena from starting. Both histories were only declassified in 2011/2012. Martin Marietta, the Titan stage manufacturer, gave presentations during the early 1980s that suggested that the Titan 3B stages had only failed once, in 1967. Whatever the cause, wreckage fell into the Pacific Ocean. References: Jonathan's Space Report Launch Vehicle Database "http://www.planet4589.org/space/lvdb/index.html" Encylopedia Astronautica "http://www.astronautix.com/" Gunter's Space Page "http://www.skyrocket.de/space" Stumpf, David K., "Titan II: A History of a Cold War Missile Program", The University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, Arkansas, 2000. TRW Space Log 1957-1996, TRW Space & Electronics Group, Redondo Beach, CA. Last Update 03-27-2024 by Ed Kyle