Frank McKenna President International Launch Services

Frank McKenna became the president of International Launch Services (ILS) and board member in October 2006 following two years as vice president and deputy of ILS. Additionally, in August 2008, McKenna became the co-chairman of the Board of Directors of ILS.  McKenna has more than three decades of experience in the aerospace and space launch businesses, with Martin Marietta and Lockheed Martin Corporation, which was a partner in ILS until October 2006. McKenna’s background includes business management, business development and strategy, several CFO positions and management of domestic and international joint ventures.

During the first year of McKenna’s leadership, ILS won more than $1.2 billion in new orders serving customers worldwide.  In August 2007, the industry publication Space News honored McKenna as one of “10 Who Made a Difference in Space.”  After establishing a significant quality initiative, by August 2008, ILS firm backlog reached 24 Proton launches valued at more than $2 billion, a record high.  In March of 2009, ILS celebrated a significant milestone—the 50th ILS Proton launch. In October 2010, ILS and Khrunichev set the industry standard with 26 consecutive successful launches in 27 months – 18 commercial missions and 9 Federal missions.

ILS is a global leader in providing commercial launch services for satellite operators worldwide offering a complete array of services and support, from contract signing through mission management and on-orbit delivery.  ILS has exclusive rights to market the Proton and Angara vehicles and has launched most commercial satellite platforms and worked with all major satellite operators worldwide. ILS is a U.S. company headquartered in Reston, Va., near Washington, D.C.

Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, which holds the majority interest in ILS, is one of the cornerstones of the Russian space industry.  Khrunichev manufactures the Proton system and is developing the next generation Angara launch system.  The Proton launches from facilities at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and has a heritage of over 360 missions since 1965.