Новости ILS

[fagot]

che wi пишет:
"Коммерческие пуски "Протон" в 2016 году и, возможно, в 2017 году, снизятся до трех-четырех в год, а не как в прошлые несколько лет - по семь-восемь", - рассказал Слэк американским СМИ.

Он связывает снижение спроса с майской аварией "Протона-М", появлением конкурента в виде компании Space X и ее низкими ценами на запуски, а также уменьшением массо-габаритных характеристик спутников заказчиков, из-за чего их могут выводить на орбиту ракеты других классов.

Лукавит Слэк. Массы спутников всех классов пока растут, просто часть спутников легкого и среднего класса, выводившихся ранее Протоном, утекла к SpaceX.

[Salo]

http://spacenews.com/chart-arianespace-spacex-battled-to-a-draw-for-2014-launch-contracts/#sthash.yENjhOSQ.dpuf

Chart | Arianespace, SpaceX Battled to a Draw for 2014 Launch Contracts
by Peter B. de Selding — January 12, 2015

Of the 19 commercial launch contracts competitively awarded in 2014, Arianespace and SpaceX took home nine apiece.  
 

[/li]
• Commercial launch service providers in 2014 booked 19 orders open to competitive bidding for satellites to launch into geostationary orbit.
• Another eight satellites, including Indian and Chinese spacecraft, were booked, or soon will be, by national launch providers in deals for which no competitive bids were sought.
• Another contract, for Orbital Sciences' Cygnus space station supply freighter, was signed with United Launch Alliance after what Orbital said was a competitive bid evaluation process.
• The most striking feature of the 2014 contract tally is the absence of Russian and Russian-Ukrainian launch service providers International Launch Services and Sea Launch AG. These companies' vehicles have had reliability or supply chain issues. Both specialize in launching larger satellites, which were out of favor in 2014 — a year dominated by small and midsize spacecraft.
• It remains to be seen whether the sharp decline in the Russian ruble in 2014 can be used by ILS and Sea Launch to regain market share by bidding for satellites that otherwise would be viewed as too small for their vehicles.
  

[Salo]

http://spacenews.com/ils-looks-to-rebound-from-tough-2014/#sthash.1ZNn6SNT.dpuf

ILS Looks To Rebound fr om Tough 2014
by Peter B. de Selding — January 12, 2015

It remains unclear when Russia will replace Proton with Angara (above). ILS President Phil Slack said he did not expect regular commercial Angara launches from Vostochny until around 2020. Credit: Russian Ministry of Defence
 
PARIS — International Launch Services, forced into a bystander's role in 2014 as rivals Arianespace and SpaceX swept up almost all the commercial satellite launch contracts, expects to be back in the mix in 2015, ILS President Phil Slack said Jan. 8.
 
ILS President Phil Slack said the three circumstances that hampered the company in 2014 — Russia's incursion into Ukraine and related sanctions, the Russian Proton rocket's shaky recent reliability record and the market's turn to lighter satellites — should ease a bit in 2015. Credit: ILS

In an interview, Slack said the three disparate negatives that hampered Reston, Virginia-based ILS in 2014 — Russia's incursion into Ukraine and related sanctions, the Russian Proton rocket's shaky recent reliability record and the market's turn to lighter satellites — should ease a bit in 2015.
In addition, he said, ILS has launch openings in 2016 that may not be available at Arianespace of Evry, France, or at Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX.
"We have had a busy federal [Russian government] market for Proton in the past year and we are full for 2015," Slack said. "But we have commercial opportunities in 2016 and several openings in 2017 as well. By our count, SpaceX has a manifest of some 18 launches in 2015 and 15-16 in 2016, so it's a full manifest. Ariane has said it is full through 2016 and could be fully booked into 2017."
SpaceX has said it is capable of conducting more than one Falcon 9 launch each month, although it managed only six campaigns in 2014. Arianespace has said it its upper position — reserved for heavier satellites for which Arianespace and Proton compete — is filled through 2016 and into 2017.
Slack said ILS has been authorized to sell one commercial launch in 2016 aboard Russia's new Angara 5 rocket, which successfully completed a demonstration flight, directly into geostationary orbit, in December.
Angara's home base is expected to be Russia's Vostochny Cosmodrome, now under construction. But a launch from northern Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodrome, wh ere the demonstration flight occurred, in 2016 is available to carry a telecommunications satellite weighing up to 5,400 kilograms, Slack said.
It remains unclear when Russia will replace Proton with Angara. Slack said he did not expect regular commercial Angara launches from Vostochny until around 2020.
The success of Arianespace and SpaceX in 2014 is due in part to their focus on medium-weight satellites less than 5,500 kilograms, which is below ILS's core market.
Arianespace Chief Executive Stephane Israel said during a Sept. 6 press briefing that Arianespace's backlog a year ago was two-thirds larger satellites and one-third smaller satellites designed for the Ariane 5 rocket's lower position. But with the dominance of smaller satellites on the market in 2014, he said, the backlog is now 55 percent larger satellites and 45 percent smaller.
Slack said ILS's view of the market is that more large satellites will be seeking launch services in 2015.
Russia's incursion into Ukraine in early 2014 shook Proton's commercial customer base, but as the months passed it became clear that the U.S. government was not going to block shipping licenses for satellites heading to Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to prepare for ILS launches. Slack said ILS in 2014 secured 40 licenses related to future commercial launches and that U.S. and European sanctions show no signs of upsetting ILS's business.
Proton's reliability record in recent years has forced ILS customers to pay substantially higher insurance premiums than do Ariane and SpaceX customers. But the launch failures have disproportionately affected Proton government launches and not ILS.
Slack said ILS's review of the failures has turned up a couple that ILS likely would have avoided because of its quality assurance problem, but others would have occurred even under the ILS banner. He said Khrunichev's new chief executive, Andrey Kalinovsky, has a history of installing quality control measures at aircraft builder Sukhoi and has made a priority of returning Proton reliability.
For 2015, Slack said ILS plans to conduct five or six commercial launches, with the Russian government launching five or six missions of its own. ILS's first launch, of London-based Inmarsat's Global Xpress satellite, is scheduled for Jan. 30. After that will follow two government Proton launches.

[Salo]

anik пишет:
http://tass.ru/opinions/interviews/1843826

- ИЛС планирует осуществить в этом году 5-6 коммерческих пусков. А есть ли у вас уже заказы на следующие годы?

- Уже есть контракты на три пуска в 2016 году и на два пуска - в 2017-м. Продолжаются переговоры еще по нескольким заказам.

- Вы говорили, что активно прорабатываете возможность запуска в 2016 году тяжелой версии "Ангары" с настоящим спутником? Это будет запуск военного аппарата по правительственному заказу?

- Нет, речь идет о невоенном аппарате. Это будет второй пуск тяжелой "Ангары" с космодрома Плесецк в Архангельской области, и сейчас продолжается процесс согласования большого количества сложных технических вопросов.

- Каковы перспективы использования легкой и средней версий "Ангары"?

- Мы будем готовы начать производство легкой "Ангары" к 2017 году, и дальше надо будет определяться с заказчиками. Что касается средней версии, то сейчас обсуждаем, что будем запускать.

[ZOOR]

Александр Ч. пишет:
"Протон" и "Ангара" будут выводить на орбиту спутники производства компании "Даурия"

МОСКВА, 30 апреля. /ТАСС/. Космические аппараты производства российской частной космической компании "Даурия Аэроспейс" с 2017 года будут выводиться на орбиту с помощью ракет-носителей "Протон" и "Ангара". Об этом сообщили ТАСС в пресс-службе "Даурии".

Соответствующее соглашение подписали президент американской космической компании International Launch Services (ILS, находится в собственности российского Космического центра имени Хруничева) Фил Слэк и генеральный директор "Даурии Аэроспейс" Сергей Иванов.

"Соглашение позволит запускать спутники "Даурии Аэроспейс" в соответствии с ценообразованием для попутного запуска и выгодно конкурировать на рынке", - цитирует пресс-служба слова Сергея Иванова.

"Это соглашение открывает прекрасные возможности для партнерства с "Даурией Аэроспейс" в деле парных запусков на геостационарную орбиту. Это инновационный подход, который позволяет использовать новые возможности запусков малых космических аппаратов", - сказал президент ILS.

В соответствии с договоренностями, спутники "Даурии Аэроспейс", предназначенные для обеспечения спутниковой телетрансляции, телефонии или предоставления широкополосного доступа в Интернет, будут выводиться на орбиту в качестве попутной нагрузки при выведении более тяжелых космических аппаратов.

А раньше ILS даблшотами занималось?
Ох, хлопотно это ....

[Sam Grey]

ZOOR пишет:
А раньше ILS даблшотами занималось?
Ох, хлопотно это ....

Разве это даблшоты? Скорей про диспенсер навроде Шерпы, которая кубсаты попутно выводит, нет? Кто вот только такой делать будет для них?

[ZOOR]

Дауриевский КА будет нижней "проставкой" весом до полутора тонн, видимо
http://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/forum/messages/forum14/topic13255/message1369555/#message1369555

[Bauer]

Наткнулся в Твиттере на картинку с Атласом-5, выведшем New Horizons (2006-й год).
И на башне, и на самой ракете логотипы ILS. Какое отношение они к запуску имели,
кто-то знает   :?:  

[anik]

Bauer пишет:
Какое отношение они к запуску имели, кто-то знает :?:  

Было время, когда пакетом акций в ILS владел Lockheed Martin, и тогда ILS занимался маркетингом Atlas 5.

[Bauer]

anik пишет:

Bauer пишет:
Какое отношение они к запуску имели, кто-то знает  :?:  

Было время, когда пакетом акций в ILS владел Lockheed Martin, и тогда ILS занимался маркетингом Atlas 5.

Спасибо.

[Salo]

testest пишет:
ILS пытается найти покупателей на легкую "Ангару"

...

http://www.ilslaunch.com/newsroom/news-releases/angara-12-launch-vehicle-enters-commercial-market

THE ANGARA 1.2 LAUNCH VEHICLE ENTERS THE COMMERCIAL MARKET
 
International Launch Services (ILS), a global launch services provider for commercial satellite operators, is now actively marketing the Angara 1.2 launch vehicle. The Angara 1.2 vehicle will be available for launch in 2017.  Launches will be conducted from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern Russia. Augmented with the heavy-lift Proton vehicle, ILS now has capability to launch the entire range of satellite masses with both vehicles serving the market.
      
    ILS possesses the exclusive rights to market the Angara vehicle to commercial customers. The Angara family of launchers will support virtually all spacecraft to all orbits, altitudes and inclinations for the low-, medium-, and heavy-lift spacecraft market. Based on a modular design and state of the art technology, the Angara family of vehicles has a high performing payload mass to lift-off mass ratio, when fully fuelled. The Proton and Angara vehicles are manufactured by Khrunichev State Research and Space Production Center (Khrunichev), the majority owner of ILS.
    The Angara 1.2 launch vehicle can lift 3 metric tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and was successfully flight demonstrated on July 9, 2014 from the Plesetsk launch site. 
    The first flight of Angara 5, the heavy-lift variant, was conducted on December 23, 2014. This vehicle will be available for GTO missions in the 2021 timeframe, following completion of the Vostochny Cosmodrome launch site located in eastern Russia. In the meantime, the existing Proton launch vehicle from Baikonur will continue to meet heavy lift requirements, with Angara 1.2 providing the low- and medium-lift requirements. Proton, Russia's premier heavy-lift vehicle has launched 404 missions to date and is in its 50th year of service.

General Director of Khrunichev, Andrey Kalinovskiy said "The Angara system is scalable to meet various performance requirements, and the use of common technology will reap production efficiencies in the factory. This translates to cost savings for customers. We look forward to passing along the benefits of Angara to satellite operators who require a high- performance option with effective lifting capacity for their low to medium class spacecraft".
    "We are committed to meeting the needs and requirements of the international satellite market with flexibility, quality and schedule assurance. Now, with Angara available for the small- and medium-lift segment, combined with our continued offering of Proton for the heavy-lift requirements, we are able to serve the entire spectrum of satellites to all orbits and inclinations. We are excited about these new offerings. Angara 1.2 has significantly higher performance than Vega and other small launchers, at a more affordable price tag," says Phil Slack, ILS President.

Notes to Editors:
    • The Angara family of vehicles will support the Russian Federal government as well as global commercial customers.
    • The future launch site for Angara is the Vostochny Cosmodrome, located on the east coast of Russia, scheduled for initial Angara launch capability in 2021.
    • The next Angara 5 flight is planned for 2016 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.  Angara 5 will be available for GTO launches from the Vostochny launch site in the 2021 timeframe.
    • A variant of the Angara Universal Rocket Module (URM) system was flown successfully as the first stage of KSLV (Korean Space Launch Vehicle) during its first three missions in 2009, 2010 and 2013. 

    About ILS and Khrunichev

    ILS provides 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 the Proton and Angara vehicles to commercial satellite operators worldwide and is a U.S. company headquartered in Reston, VA., near Washington, D.C.  To date, ILS has launched 89 commercial missions.  For more information, visit www.ilslaunch.com.

Khrunichev, which holds the majority interest in ILS, is one of the cornerstones of the Russian space industry. Khrunichev manufactures the Proton system and the Angara family of vehicles. The Proton vehicle launches from facilities at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and has a heritage of more than 400 missions since 1965. Khrunichev includes, among its branches, a number of key manufacturers of launch vehicle and spacecraft components in Moscow and in other cities of the Russian Federation.  For more information, visit www.khrunichev.com.

[Salo]

http://spacenews.com/ils-now-marketing-small-angara-variant/

ILS Now Marketing Small Angara Variant
by Peter B. de Selding — July 17, 2015
  Angara rocket. Credit: Khrunichev  
 
PARIS— Commercial launch-services provider International Launch Services (ILS) has begun marketing the first iteration of Russia's new Angara rocket, adding the light-lift Angara 1.2 to its commercial portfolio for launches starting in 2017.
Reston, Virginia-based ILS, whose sole current product, Russia's heavy-lift Proton rocket, is grounded following a May failure, said the top-of-the-line Angara 5 vehicle would be ready for missions to geostationary orbit starting around 2021.
Angara 5 will launch fr om Russia's new Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Russia, whose construction has met with multiple delays but remains strongly backed by the Russian government. The inaugural Angara 1.2 commercial flight from Vostochny could occur in 2025, ILS said.
Angara 1.2 will debut from northern Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodrome and subsequently to operate from Vostochny.
From the Plesetsk site, wh ere it conducted a test flight in July 2014, Angara 1.2 will be able to carry 2,350 kilograms of satellite payload into a 750-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit, a common destination for Earth observation satellites.
Plesetsk's northern latitude is not well-suited to equatorial launches, and from this spaceport Angara 1.2 will focus on high-inclination orbits.
ILS said the state-owned Khrunichev Space Center of Moscow, which is prime contractor for both Proton and Angara, is still assembling a mission planner's guide for Angara 1.2 customers that will detail performance to different orbits.
ILS said Angara 1.2's maximum performance is 2,960 kilograms of satellite payload to a 200-kilometer circular orbit inclined at 63.2 degrees relative to the equator.
Khrunichev is positioning Angara as a modular rocket with multiple commonalities between the light-lift 1.2 and the heavy Angara 5 versions. In that sense, Angara's model has been adopted by the 22-nation European Space Agency for its future Vega light-lift and Ariane 6 heavy-lift rockets.
"The Angara system is scalable to meet various performance requirements, and the use of common technology will reap production efficiencies in the factory," Khrunichev General Director Andrey Kalinovskiy said in a July 16 statement. "This translates to cost savings for customers."
ILS President Phil Slack said that with the Angara 1.2 added to the ILS portfolio, "we are able to serve the entire spectrum of satellites to all orbits and inclinations. Angara 1.2 has significantly higher performance than Vega and other small launchers, and a more-affordable price tag."

[ZOOR]

ILS PROTON SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES INMARSAT-5 F3 SATELLITE
    The Final Global Xpress®Satellite Launch in 3-constellation Series

BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan, August 29, 2015 – An International Launch Services (ILS) Proton Breeze M successfully placed the Inmarsat-5 F3 (I-5 F3) satellite into a super-synchronous transfer orbit (SSTO) today. The spacecraft was launched for Inmarsat, the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services. I-5 F3 is the third of Inmarsat's next-generation Global Xpress satellites, which launched on an ILS Proton. This marks the third Proton launch of the year and the 5th SSTO mission for ILS, a leader in providing launch services to the global commercial satellite industry.
The Proton launch vehicle, carrying the I-5 F3 satellite, lifted off from Pad 39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome yesterday at 17:44 local time (12:44, London time, 11:44 GMT and 07:44 ET). The SSTO mission utilized a 5-burn Breeze M mission design to advance the orbital unit first to a circular parking orbit, then to an intermediate orbit, followed by a transfer orbit, and finally to a 65,000 km-apogee super-synchronous transfer orbit. After a 15-hour, 31-minute mission, the satellite was placed into the target orbit by the Proton launcher. SSTO missions provide increased heavy-lift performance over GTO mission designs, allowing our customers the capability to maximize spacecraft operational lifetime.
     
    The satellite was manufactured by Boeing Satellite Systems International and built on the reliable 702HP platform. Weighing over 6 metric tons at lift-off, the I-5 F3 satellite has 89 Ka-band fixed beams and 6 steerable ones. I-5 F3 is designed to generate approximately 15 kilowatts of power at the start of service and approximately 13.8 kilowatts at the end of its 15-year design life. To generate such high power, the spacecraft's two solar wings employ five panels of ultra-triple-junction solar cells.

Global Xpress will be the first globally available high-speed mobile broadband network, delivered through a single provider.  It will offer the unique combination of global coverage, consistent high-speed performance, and the network reliability for which Inmarsat is renowned. GX services will be deployed to serve the advanced mobility needs of Inmarsat's existing customers on land, at sea and in the air, will diversify Inmarsat's business into existing adjacent government and energy markets, and position Inmarsat in the vanguard of new, high-growth military-Ka,  aviation passenger, maritime and other connectivity markets.

    ILS President Phil Slack stated, "It is always exciting to launch a satellite for one of our customers and to play a key role in the deployment of its services. As the launch provider for Inmarsat's first three Global Xpress satellites, it has been extremely rewarding to know that we have helped to enable Inmarsat's innovative technology.  Inmarsat's Global Xpress network delivers broadband connectivity to the remotest regions of the world, as well as critical worldwide communications services on land, at sea or in the air. The collective teams at Inmarsat, ILS, Khrunichev and Boeing are to be commended for their dedication to the successful launch of Inmarsat-5 F3."

    "The launch of the third Global Xpress satellite is a pivotal moment in Inmarsat's history. Global Xpress will delivery broadband speeds an order of magnitude faster than our 4th generation (I-4) constellation, allowing us to offer our current customers new high value services and solutions and to grow our business activities into exciting new markets. This is truly a new era in mobile satellite communications," said Rupert Pearce, CEO, Inmarsat. "We sincerely thank our dedicated staff and our partners at Inmarsat, Boeing, ILS and Khrunichev for ensuring mission success."

    The I-5 F3 launch marked the 405th launch for Proton since its maiden flight in 1965 and the 90th ILS Proton Launch overall. This was also the 19th Boeing-built satellite launched on an ILS Proton and the 5th Inmarsat satellite launched on Proton overall. The Proton M Breeze M vehicle is developed and built by Khrunichev Research and Production Space Center of Moscow, Russia's premier space industry manufacturer and majority shareholder in ILS.
About ILS and Khrunichev

    ILS provides 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 the rights to market the Proton and Angara vehicles to commercial satellite operators worldwide and is a U.S. company headquartered in Reston, VA., near Washington, D.C.  To date, ILS has launched 90 commercial missions.  For more information, visit www.ilslaunch.com.

Khrunichev, which holds the majority interest in ILS, is one of the cornerstones of the Russian space industry. Khrunichev manufactures the Proton system and the Angara family of vehicles. The Proton vehicle launches from facilities at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and has a heritage of more than 400 missions since 1965. Khrunichev includes, among its branches, a number of key manufacturers of launch vehicle and spacecraft components in Moscow and in other cities of the Russian Federation.  For more information, visit www.khrunichev.com.

About Inmarsat
    Inmarsat plc is the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services. Since 1979, Inmarsat has been providing reliable voice and high-speed data communications to governments, enterprises and other organizations, with a range of services that can be used on land, at sea or in the air. Inmarsat employs around 1,600 staff in more than 60 locations around the world, with a presence in the major ports and centres of commerce on every continent. Inmarsat is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:ISAT.L). For more information, please visit www.inmarsat.com.

Media Inquiries:
    Karen Monaghan, Director of Communications, International Launch Services, Reston, Va.; +1-571-633-7549; mobile: +1-571-282-5195; k.monaghan@ilslaunch.com, For more information, visit the ILS website at www.ilslaunch.com.

Вот такой у них теперь директор по связям с общественностью

[Salo]

http://spacenews.com/ils-mission-assurance-vp-replaces-slack-as-president/

ILS Mission Assurance VP Replaces Slack as President
 by Peter B. de Selding — September 11, 2015
 
Phil Slack became the company's chief executive in 2012 and has had to lead a company whose main product failed once per year since then despite repeated promises from Khrunichev that it had come to grips with the quality-assurance problem. Credit: ILS  
 
PARIS — Commercial launch-service provider International Launch Services on Sept. 11 said President Phil Slack is leaving the company after three years in his job and is being replaced by Kirk Pysher, who has been ILS's mission assurance vice president.
Reston, Virginia-based ILS, which is owned by the Moscow-based Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, which builds the Russian Proton rocket that ILS sells, has suffered in recent years with repeated Proton quality-control issues.
Slack became the company's chief executive in 2012 and has had to lead a company whose main product failed once per year since then despite repeated promises from Khrunichev that it had come to grips with the quality-assurance problem.
During this same period, SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, entered the global commercial launch market with its Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket and by 2014 was winning 50 percent of the commercial geostationary-orbit telecommunications satellites. Europe's Arianespace consortium continued to take a 50 percent market share with its Ariane 5 rocket.
Despite the Falcon 9 failure in June, SpaceX has built a large backlog of commercial customers, as has Evry, France-based Arianespace, which despite being able to carry two telecommunications satellites at a time on Ariane 5 has said it has no room in its manifest until 2017.
Pysher's task, which satellite operators say is within reach, is to win back customer loyalty and recapture the sizable market share that ILS enjoyed until SpaceX arrived on the scene.
Industry officials have said ILS, if Khrunichev allows it, could use the drop in the value of the Russian ruble to slash prices and more than match the unfavorable insurance rates that Proton customers must now pay because of the vehicle's unstable recent record.
Khrunichev is also introducing the Angara rocket line, which ultimately will replace Proton.
Several large commercial satellite fleet operators have said they do not want to see SpaceX and Arianespace become the only viable options because of the threat to the industry if one of these vehicles is grounded for any length of time. These companies have suggested they will support ILS and Proton as they attempt to return to the market.

[Александр Ч.]

ILS ANNOUNCES ONE ILS PROTON LAUNCH FOR HISPASAT IN 2017

International Launch Services (ILS) and HISPASAT announce a contract for the launch of a satellite on ILS Proton in the first half of 2017 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for HISPASAT, headquartered in Madrid, Spain. HISPASAT distributes more than 1,250 television and radio channels through its powerful fleet of satellites and is a key driver for the Spanish aerospace industry.
The satellite will be one of the two satellites that Space Systems Loral LLC (SSL) of Palo Alto, California is building for Hispasat, Hispasat 1F or Amazonas 5. Both weigh approximately 5 metric tons. ILS will dual integrate both missions and Hispasat will have the flexibility to determine the satellite-to-launcher assignments very late, based on business and schedule considerations. With those two new satellites, HISPASAT will be able to meet growing satellite capacity demand, mainly for satellite television platforms in regional locations and Ka-band capacity providing new Internet connectivity services. The satellites will have an expected useful life of 15 years and will be built on SSL's flight-proven 1300 platform.
The Proton launch vehicle is built by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center (Khrunichev), the majority owner of ILS and one of the mainstays of the global space industry. The Proton vehicle has a heritage of over 400 missions since its first flight in 1965.
President of ILS, Kirk Pysher said, "The partnership of HISPASAT satellites launching on Proton dates back over 10 years with the successful launch of HISPASAT's first AMAZONAS satellite in 2004 on ILS Proton. We are proud that HISPASAT continues to place its trust in us to expand business with this launch in 2017, another powerful satellite to augment their fleet. ILS and Khrunichev look forward to working with HISPASAT on this important mission." 
"Proton is the right choice for HISPASAT and allows us the flexibility we need to support our schedule critical business plan. We are confident that the performance of the Proton launcher will continue to support our plan to strategically enable connectivity in these high-growth markets," said Carlos Espinós Gómez, CEO of HISPASAT.
...

[Александр Ч.]

Peter B. de Selding ‏@pbdes  11 мин.11 минут назад

New ILS President: We're getting aggressive on pricing w/ ruble fall to recapture market; it's a durable policy change.#WSBW

Peter B. de Selding ‏@pbdes  11 мин.11 минут назад

Industry officials: ILS apparently has OK from Khrunichev to slash Proton prices w/ ruble fall by ~ 30%, to near-SpaceX level of ~$65M.#WSBW

[Salo]

http://spacenews.com/price-cuts-part-of-multipronged-strategy-to-win-back-proton-customers/

Price Cuts Part of Multipronged Strategy To Win Back Proton Customers
by Peter B. de Selding — September 25, 2015

The Proton rocket has suffered failures in each of the last four years. The most recent one, in May, destroyed the Mexican government's Centenario telecommunications satellite (above) insured for $300 million.
 
PARIS — Managers of Russia's Proton rocket said they are slashing prices for commercial launches and restructuring contracts with big customers to win back their loyalty after the rocket's recent failures.
The contract modifications include schedule priority on Proton's launch manifest for commercial missions and other benefits not directly related to prices, they said.
The first success of the new policy is the recent win of a launch contract fr om satellite fleet operator Hispasat of Spain, which purchased a launch from Proton commercial sales manager International Launch Services and another from SpaceX of Hawthorne, California.
Industry officials said ILS and its owner — Proton builder Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center of Moscow — priced the contract at around $65 million, which is close to what SpaceX customarily offers for launches aboard its Falcon 9 rocket.
The Hispasat contract, announced Sept. 14, was the first for Reston, Virginia-based ILS in over two years, a period during which Europe's Arianespace and SpaceX have effectively divided the commercial market between them.
In a briefing here during the World Satellite Business Week conference organized by Euroconsult, Khrunichev General Director Andrey V. Kalinovsky said the Hispasat win was an example of the new face Proton is presenting to fleet operators whose size makes them potentially regular users of Proton.
"What happened with this customer is just an occasional thing," Kalinovsky said. "It was done as part of the program we developed with ILS. It is not all about pricing. A portion of our customers lost confidence in us and this is much more scary than a pricing issue."
Kalinovsky said the decline of the Russian ruble gives Khrunichev leeway on pricing, but that this is likely to last only a year or two. Longer term, he said, Khrunichev and ILS are crafting different contract types for repeat customers, regardless of the ruble's movements against the U.S. dollar and the euro.
ILS's new president, Kirk Pysher, said the company will do all it can to use the foreign-exchange advantage while it lasts.
"Clearly we are taking advantage of the drop in the ruble," Pysher said Sept. 15 during a panel discussion among launch service providers. "It is a durable pricing that we will continue to offer as long as we have the current exchange rates.
"But we are also partnering with our strategic customers and offering good deals. Gwynne [SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, also on the panel] and her team are challenging us in this area and we are reacting. The ruble has definitely helped us in that regard."
The Proton rocket has suffered failures in each of the last four years. The most recent one, in May, destroyed a Mexican government telecommunications satellite insured for $300 million.

Khrunichev General Director Andrey V. Kalinovsky. Credit: ILS

Since then the rocket has returned to flight with two launches. Kalinovsky said the Turkish government's Turksat 4B satellite was next up, with launch scheduled in October. An unspecified Russian government mission will follow in November, with the Express-AMU1/Eutelsat 36C telecommunications satellite — co-owned by the Russian Satellite Communications Co. of Moscow and Eutelsat of Paris — to launch in December.
Commercial fleet operators Eutelsat, Intelsat and EchoStar are among those awaiting early 2016 launches.
The European Space Agency's ExoMars 2016 mission, which had been set for a January Proton launch, has been delayed to mid-March following discovery of a hardware defect on the spacecraft. The two-month slip could open a Proton commercial launch slot in January. ILS officials said Sept. 22 that the company is still evaluating its manifest.
In a surprising comment, Kalinovsky said the state of the commercial launch market before SpaceX's arrival in 2012-2013 allowed the Proton team to remain commercially viable despite its failures because there were few alternatives to Proton and Ariane 5.
With SpaceX now active in the market that is no longer the case.
Before being named to his post in August 2014 by the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, Kalinovsky was a top manager at Russia's Sukhoi aircraft manufacturer.
He said that around five years ago Sukhoi quality control slipped — "You can ask [Russian airliner] Aeroflot about that," he said — and it took a couple of years to fully redress the situation.
Khrunichev, he said, faces the same challenges of integrating into its work force engineers that, unlike their elders, are no longer willing to wait 10 years to be certified as specialists in the Khrunichev factory.
"I won't say it's good or bad — that's another question," Kalinovsky said of the new crop of Khrunichev recruits. "But these new young people are different, that's for sure. They want it all, here and now. We have to account for that fact and adjust our work accordingly."
One way to demonstrate a changed Khrunichev to skeptical customers is by offering commercial fleet operators greater access to Khrunichev's quality control procedures and manufacturing practices, Kalinovsky said. ILS, as the customer-facing entity for Proton commercial sales, will also be given more access.
Khrunichev now expects that Proton will be active on the market through 2025 before being replaced by the new Angara family of vehicles, which has now begun test flights. Kalinovsky said about 2,000 people work on Proton assembly in Moscow, with about the same number working in Omsk, Russia, wh ere Angara is assembled.

[Salo]

http://izvestia.ru/news/592578

6 октября 2015, 00:01   |   Наука   |   Иван Чеберко
Центр Хруничева снизил цены на запуски «Протоном» из-за Маска
И предложил постоянным клиентам большие скидки с дополнительными опциями по дате старта       
          
Фото пресс-службы Роскосмоса/ federalspace.ru
 
Центр Хруничева принял новую маркетинговую стратегию, чтобы вернуться на мировой рынок пусковых услуг, снизив цену выведения спутника ракетой «Протон-М», а также предложив специальные опции для постоянных клиентов. Новая стратегия была разработана совместно с американской «дочкой» «Хруничева» — International Launch Services (ILS), продающей пусковые услуги с помощью «Протонов» за пределами РФ.

— На долгосрочную перспективу Центр имени Хруничева и ILS планируют проводить более гибкую маркетинговую политику, основанную на дифференцированном подходе к заказчикам, — сообщили «Известиям» в пресс-службе «Хруничева». — Нами разработаны различные типы контрактов для постоянных клиентов, которые включают пакеты преференций. Стратегический партнер теперь имеет целый набор преференций в отличие от компаний, которые заключают разовый контракт. В их числе не только цена пуска, но и приоритетность по времени и очередности пуска перед остальными заказчиками,  а также другие льготы.

Условия контрактов не позволяют сотрудникам «Хруничева» говорить о конкретных цифрах, но по неофициальной информации последний контракт, полученный компанией через ILS, оценен в $63 млн (со спутниковым оператором Hispasat, подписан 14 сентября). Это означает весомое снижение цен в сравнении с контрактами 2013 года, их уровень был в районе $100 млн.

В «Хруничеве» признают, что центральное звено новой маркетинговой стратегии — цены, но настаивают, что это скорее временная скидка, а не новая ценовая политика. 

— В краткосрочной перспективе, учитывая, что все международные контракты на пуски ракеты «Протон» заключаются в долларах, падение курса рубля дает конкурентные преимущества для ракеты на рынке пусковых услуг и позволяет снижать стоимость контрактов, — заявляют в пресс-службе «Хруничева». — Мы с ILS, безусловно, учитываем ситуацию с обменным курсом, принимая решения о стоимости услуг. Однако условия  контрактов и иные детальные подробности представляют собой конфиденциальную информацию предприятия.

В случае с Hispasat «Хруничев» пошел на большой дисконт потому, что уже 2 года компания сидит без экспортных контрактов. У «Протонов» в последнее время испортилась статистика — череда аварий прежде надежных носителей началась в 2010 году и пока непонятно, завершилась ли: последняя авария датируется маем этого года.

Резкое снижение цены продиктовано и возросшей конкуренцией: часть рынка у «Хруничева» отбирает SpaceX, компания Илона Маска, предлагающая вывести спутник весом до 4,85 т на геопереходную орбиту (ГПО) ракетой Falcon 9 за $61,2 млн. Это меньше того веса, который выводит на ГПО «Протон», — 6,74 т, однако большая часть космических аппаратов подходят под Falcon 9, и «Хруничев» с этим ценовым ориентиром вынужден считаться.

Двухлетний перерыв в заключении коммерческих контрактов означает недополучение «Хруничевым» не менее чем $500 млн — в прежние годы компания заключала по 3–4 контракта на запуски ежегодно. С другой стороны, «Хруничев» может быть удовлетворен тем, что сохранил внушительный портфель заказов, полученный в досанкционный период: в прошлом году американцы рассматривали возможность введения запретительных мер, которые делали бы невозможным запуски спутников с американскими комплектующими с российских космодромов. Тут надо отдать должное ILS, которая не сидела сложа руки, — весной прошлого года была нанята компания The Madison Group, специализирующаяся на GR-сервисах в высокотехнологичных отраслях и торговле.

The Madison Group официально нанималась, чтобы донести информацию о важности ракет «Протон» для мирового рынка коммерческих запусков до тех, кто принимает решения в Вашингтоне, а также организовать встречи с определенными людьми на уровне Белого дома. «Протон» под санкции в итоге не попал, и запуски по прежде заключенным контрактам продолжаются до сих пор.

— Новая маркетинговая стратегия обусловлена стремлением парировать негативные последствия серии аварий, — считает научный руководитель Института космической политики Иван Моисеев. — Чтобы вернуться на рынок, «Хруничеву» теперь нужна серия удачных запусков, не менее 10 подряд.

[Salo]

http://izvestia.ru/news/593948

26 октября 2015, 00:01   |   Наука   |   Иван Чеберко
Роскосмос создает единый центр пусковых услуг  
Из-за этого космическое ведомство решило не продлевать жизнь совместного предприятия с Airbus       
          
Фото: ТАСС/ Александр Бабенко
 
Роскосмос предпочел не продлевать жизнь совместного предприятия с Airbus: компания Eurockot завершит пусковую программу и существование в следующем году. История примечательна тем, что западный соучредитель — Airbus Safran Launchers — хотел предприятие сохранить и предлагал сценарий на будущее: взять новую российскую ракету «Ангара 1.2» и работать с ней после того, как носитель «Рокот» будет снят с эксплуатации. Однако в Роскосмосе права на  продвижение новой ракеты передали дочерней компании Центра Хруничева в США, которая возьмет на себя роль единого центра пусковых услуг.

«Рокот» — это конверсионная ракета-носитель легкого класса, адаптированная баллистическая ракета РС-18Б, снятая с боевого дежурства и укомплектованная разгонным блоком вместо боевой части. Основное ее преимущество — относительная дешевизна. В ценах 2013 года «Рокот» официально стоил 447 млн рублей, пусковые услуги — 175 млн рублей. Привлекательные цены обеспечивали интерес к «Рокотам» со стороны научных и некоммерческих организаций, которых находил Eurockot Launch Services, — совместное предприятие со штаб-квартирой в Бремене, учрежденное в 1995 году специально для маркетинга носителей легкого класса «Рокот» (51% компании — у Airbus, 49% — у Центра Хруничева, подконтрольного Роскосмосу).

Но «Рокоты» эксплуатируются на пределе гарантийного срока — ракеты РС-18Б выпускались до 1985 года, и их предельный срок службы составляет 31 год. В  этом и следующем годах планируется запустить три последних «Рокота» в интересах Минобороны и по заказу Eurockot, после чего пусковая кампания завершится и СП с Airbus уйдет в историю, просуществовав 21 год.

— Права на маркетинг «Ангара 1.2» были переданы стопроцентной дочерней компании Центра Хруничева в США — International Launch Services (ILS), — пояснил информированный источник в Роскосмосе. — Сотрудничество с Airbus по программе «Ангара» на сегодня представляется нецелесообразным, потому что в портфеле у пускового оператора Arianespace, которой владеет Airbus, есть ракета легкого класса Vega. Мы видим здесь потенциальный конфликт интересов, поэтому решили работать на внешнем рынке через ILS.

В российском представительстве Airbus предпочли ситуацию не комментировать. В июне 2015 года региональный директор Airbus Defence and Space по странам СНГ Владимир Терехов в интервью «Известиям» подтвердил интерес компании к продолжению сотрудничества в рамках Eurockot.

— Мы понимаем, что сотрудничество по «Рокотам» подходит к концу, поэтому ведем консультации с Центром имени Хруничева о продолжении сотрудничества в рамках совместного предприятия Eurockot Launch Services с использованием другого носителя, — говорил Терехов.

По словам собеседника «Известий» в Роскосмосе, другое космическое СП с Airbus — «Старсем» (акционеры Arianespase, Airbus, самарский космический центр «Прогресс», Роскосмос) — продолжит работать, но формат его деятельности будет откорректирован: эксклюзивные права «Старсема» на коммерческие запуски с «Байконура» истекут в 2016 году, и продляться эксклюзив, скорее всего, не будет.

— У нас с Airbus очень хорошие взаимоотношения, однако Роскосмос стремится к созданию единого центра пусковых услуг, который будет скоординированно представлять на рынке все имеющиеся у нас носители, — объясняет собеседник «Известий» в Роскосмосе. — Поэтому широкая кооперация с зарубежной компанией, у которой доля в таком операторе (Arianespace. — «Известия») уже есть, не представляется целесообразным.

По мнению Андрея Ионина, члена-корреспондента Российской академии космонавтики имени Циолковского, действия Роскосмоса в данном случае логичны.

— За 20 лет работы на рынке пусковых услуг российские компании и специалисты накопили достаточно опыта, чтобы заниматься продвижением самостоятельно, — считает Ионин. — Альянс на пусковом рынке с Airbus и ее дочерними структурами смысла не имеет, поскольку здесь мы видим естественный конфликт интересов: имея стартовый стол для «Союза» на космодроме в Куру, представители Airbus при прочих равных предпочтут отдать заказ туда, на свой космодром, а не на Байконур. Ну и, помимо прочего, не стоит забывать о политическом контексте: Airbus Group контролируется правительствами Германии и Франции, которые ввели в отношении России санкции.

Идея объединить маркетинг всех российских ракет-носителей на международном рынке прорабатывается в Роскосмосе достаточно давно: в 2011 году возглавлявший в то время Роскосмос Владимир Поповкин рассказывал «Известиям» о планах создать космический аналог «Рособоронэкспорта» — структуру, координирующую работу ракетно-космических предприятий на внешних рынках.

[Seerndv]

Salo пишет:
Ну и, помимо прочего, не стоит забывать о политическом контексте: Airbus Group контролируется правительствами Германии и Франции, которые ввели в отношении России санкции.

- в США, где сидит International Launch Services (ILS) санкции не вводили?
Не то считает mr. Ионин  :|