International Launch Services (ILS), the sales and marketing arm for Russia’s Proton rocket launches, has hired Tiphaine Louradour, a former executive from the USA’s United Launch Alliance (ULA), as CEO.

Louradour was most recently head of Global Commercial Sales for ULA. Kirk Pysher, the former ILS CEO, left the business in October 2019.

ILS is owned by Russia’s JSC Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, and looks after sales of Proton launches from Russia and Kazakhstan.

Importantly, Lourador’s appointment comes with a new element in the ILS portfolio of products and services. ILS says: “ILS recently received approval from the US State Department to promote commercial launch services on the storied Soyuz launch vehicle. These activities will contribute to the Soyuz launch service offerings by the Russian company GK Launch Services from Russian spaceports (Baikonur and Vostochny). Following an agreement between the two companies on joint cooperation in the launch service market, the objective is to offer customers access to the full range of Proton, Angara and Soyuz launch vehicles.”

Another element is that ILS can sell ‘tickets’ for humans to travel to space on a Soyuz rocket. ILS says: “Those flights will be managed by Glavkosmos, which has vast human flight experience. Soyuz has over 300 successful manned missions including dozens of missions bringing astronauts as well as private citizens to the International Space Station. ILS is now open for business to provide safe access to space for private space travellers.”

JSC Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, with headquarters located in Fili, Moscow, is one of the core enterprises of the Russian space industry and one of the world’s leading developers and manufacturers of rocket and space technology. Khrunichev is the major shareholder of ILS International Launch Services, Inc.

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