A U.S. Air Force Titan IVB space launch vehicle thundered into the Florida skies from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on May 8, 2000, carrying a Defense Support Program (DSP) satellite that will add to a constellation of similar satellites the Air Force uses to provide early warning of missile launches worldwide. An inertial upper stage (IUS) transferred the satellite to its final orbit. The launch was from complex 40 at Cape Canaveral. The Titan IVB is the nation's largest, most powerful expendable launch vehicle and is built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company-Astronautics Operations near Denver, CO. The Titan IVB is capable of boosting up to 47,800 pounds into low-Earth orbit or more than 12,700 pounds into geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles above Earth.