About ILS

Who We Are

International Launch Services (ILS) is a world leader in providing launch services for global satellite operators and offers a complete array of services and support, from contract signing through mission management and on-orbit delivery. ILS has exclusive rights to market Proton launch services for commercial and civil satellite programs world-wide. The commercial Proton is ILS Proton.

At a glance, International Launch Services:

• Is headquartered in Reston, VA, a suburb of Washington, D.C.
• Is a U.S. company incorporated in the state of Delaware
• Is a complete launch service organization comprised of about 65 professionals dedicated to performance, excellence, and customer satisfaction
• Provides sales, marketing, mission management, launch operations, legal, licensing, and technical translation services.
• Was founded in 1995. Since then, ILS has launched over 70 commercial Proton rockets.
• Is a subsidiary of Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center (Khrunichev). Khrunichev has launched over 360 Proton rockets.

Browse through all of our launches at our Proton Launch Archives.

What We Do

ILS Proton Launch Services utilizes the Proton Breeze M launch vehicle to launch and orbit commercial spacecraft. The Proton M/ Breeze M launcher is the latest evolution of the Proton launch vehicle that dates back to the initial launch in May 1965. The first Proton M/ Breeze M rocket was flown for a Russian federal mission in April 2001, and the first commercial Proton M/ Breeze M vehicle was flown in December 2002 with the NIMIQ 2 satellite for Telesat.

Proton launch vehicles are designed and built by Khrunichev within its facility near Moscow. The Khrunichev facility is home to all engineering, assembly and test functions of the Proton launcher. With the recent consolidation of Russian space enterprises, Khrunichev has direct oversight and control of up to 70 percent of all Proton rocket manufacturing, including all engine systems. This consolidation directly supports Khrunichev’s ongoing efforts for vertical integration of Proton rocket production and management.

Together, ILS and Khrunichev provide a single source for:

• Marketing & Sales
• Licensing & Support
• Mission Management
• Quality Management
• Integration Mission Design
• Proton Manufacturing
• Launch Operations

Why ILS?

ILS Proton launch services have been selected to deliver satellites into space by global, regional and national satellite operators around the world. Customers choose ILS because the core values of our service have been identified to be the best in the industry.

For further information on ILS please see our Proton Brochure (pdf ).