ILS and Proton Milestones

Since its creation in 1995, International Launch Services has been a world leader in commercial launch, serving satellite operators across the globe.

ILS’ launch vehicle, the Proton, has also played a pivotal role in the history of rocketry and satellite launches. The Proton has been launched over 380 times since the first liftoff in 1965.

 

2012 |2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1996 | 1995 | 1993 | 1992 | 1965 | 1955

2012

• 20 November: International Launch Services Announces Change in Leadership
• 14 October: 75th ILS Proton Launch
• 25 March: ILS Successfully Completes First SSTO Mission

2011

• 20 October: Heaviest satellite launched to date, on ILS Proton

2010

• Record 8 Commercial Launches by ILS Proton
• 21 March: First commercial Phase III on Proton with launch of EchoStar XIV
• 11 February: First ILS shared launch contract signed

2009

• 3 April: ILS Proton successfully completes its 50th launch
• 11 February: First demonstration of Phase III on a Federal Proton launch with a dual payload

2008

• 30 June: ILS Relocates to Reston, Va.
• 29 May: Khrunichev Purchases Majority Interest in ILS
• 24 April: Quality Initiatives Implemented
• Khrunichev named as one of the Core Centers in the Russian Space Center Consolidation Effort
• 8 January: ILS Marks First Year as Independent Company with $1.5 Billion in New Proton Business

2007

• 19 June: ILS Focus on Performance Brings More Than $1 Billion in Launch Orders in First Half of 2007
• 03 February: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decree authorizing vertical consolidation of the Proton launch system development under Khrunichev

2006

• 31 October: Khrunichev Awarded the 34th International Trophy for Quality 
• 11 October: ILS Ownership Changes; Frank McKenna Appointed President

2005

• 14 June: ILS Celebrates 10th Anniversary
• 2 June: 50th anniversary of the Baikonur Cosmodrome

2004

• 2 March: ILS Wins PBI Award for “Best Launch Innovation of the Year”

2003

• 7 June: 300th Mission Flown by Proton Vehicle

2002

• 30 December: First commercial launch of Proton M Breeze M
• 17 June: ILS Awarded for Strategic Alliance Leadership by Frost & Sullivan

2001

• 31 August: Second successful test firing of the Angara engine RD-191
• 14 August: First successful test firing of the Angara engine RD-191
• 7 April: First flight of the Proton M Breeze M
• 26 January: Record-Setting 14 Launches, 16 New Orders Mark Exceptional Year

2000

• Completion of moving ILS headquarters from California to Virginia
• 24 July: International Launch Services Announces over $1 Billion in New Orders
• 12 July: Proton Launches the Zvezda Service Module for the ISS
• 6 June: First successful flight of Breeze M with Proton K

1999

• 28 July: International Launch Services given exclusive marketing and sales rights for Khrunichev Angara family launchers

1998

• 20 November: Federal Proton launch of Zarya, the first component of the International Space Station

1996

• 9 April: First Commercial Launch for ILS Proton

1995

• 10 June: Creation of ILS

1993

• 7 June: Russian presidential decree established the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center (Khrunichev)
• 15 April: Creation of LKEI partnership

1992

• 16 December: Russian Government Order No 2349-r authorizing Khrunichev Enterprise "to set up a joint enterprise with Lockheed Corporation according to the established order with the purpose to conduct marketing operations in the international market of space services".
• 17 June: President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, and U.S. President, George H.W. Bush, signed the Agreement on Cooperation in the field of space research for peaceful purposes

1965

• 16 July: First launch of Proton

1955

• 2 June: the official decree of the Soviet General Staff formally inaugurating construction of a scientific research and testing range at Baikonur
• 5 May: Laid the first stone to mark the construction of the city of Leninsk at the Cosmodrome

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