A Proton rocket on its way to set up for launch. Photo: Khrunichev.

[Via Satellite 09-14-2015] International Launch Services (ILS) has appointed Kirk Pysher, formerly VP of mission assurance and product development, as president of the company. He takes over leadership from Phil Slack who served as president of ILS since 2012.

Pysher was appointed to the ILS board of directors, which consists of senior level representatives from both ILS and its majority holder Khrunichev State Research and Space Production Center, last month. Khrunichev has provided its full endorsement of Pysher as the new head of ILS.

In his previous role, Pysher was primarily responsible for development and implementation of ILS and customer-specific mission assurance requirements. Pysher also handled product development, including performance upgrades and the preliminary steps to introduce the Angara launch vehicle to the commercial market.