International Launch Services

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ILS International Launch Services, Inc.
Type	Private
Founded	1995
Headquarters	Headquarters in Mclean, Virginia, US-Russian joint venture
Key people	Frank McKenna, President
Industry	Aerospace and defense
Products	Proton rocket
Employees	< 60
Website	www.ilslaunch.com

Established in 1995, International Launch Services (ILS) is a long standing, successful U.S.-Russian joint venture with exclusive rights to the worldwide sale of commercial Proton rocket launch services. The Proton vehicle launches both commercial ILS missions and Russian government payloads from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Majority owned by the Russian firms Khrunichev and RSC Energia, it is incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Mclean, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Frank McKenna is the current President.

ILS is a complete launch service organization, committed to nurturing partnerships with our customers, not just marketing and fulfilling launch contracts. ILS is at the customer's side from contract signing through mission completion. With ILS customers get a single source of comprehensive knowledge, from business management to technical interface to licensing support.

The International Launch Services team has accumulated an extensive experience base. Over its years of existence, it has launched the most commercial satellite platforms and worked with all major satellite operators.

[edit] History

ILS was formed in 1995 as a private spaceflight partnership between Lockheed Martin (LM), Khrunichev and Energia. (LM sold their part later.) ILS initially co-marketed non-military launches on both the U.S. Atlas V and the Russian Proton expendable launch vehicles.

With the Atlas V launch of the SES Astra 1KR satellite on April 20, 2006, ILS had made 100 launches, 97 of which were successful.^[1]

In October 2006, Space Transport Corporation, a privately held company, acquired Lockheed Martin's stake in ILS. ILS now provides commercial launch services only on Proton.^[2] Atlas V launches and launch services are now provided and operated by United Launch Alliance, a partnership between Lockheed Martin and Boeing IDS.

In May 2008, Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, a Russian company, acquired all of Space Transport's interest and is now the majority shareholder in ILS. ILS will remain a U.S. company and headquarters will remain in McLean, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. where approximately 60 employees are based. As of May 2008, ILS has a backlog of 22 orders totalling approximately $2 billion, and has flown 45 commercial Proton missions since 1996.Khrunichev Purchases Majority Interest in International Launch Services. Press Release. ILS (29 May 2008). Retrieved on 30 May 2008.