ILS Abandoning Lower End of Launch Market

摘要

In a policy shift that will affect the global commercial-launch market, the U.S.-Russian joint ven-ture that sells the Russian Proton and U.S. Atlas rockets will no longer compete to launch satellites weighing less than 4,500 kilograms. Company officials said the change is necessary because the lower end of the market offers insufficient return on investment. International Launch Services (ILS) will thus abandon a 10-year policy of seeking to maximize its market share and instead focus on a smaller, but more profitable segment of the launch services business, ILS President Mark Al-brecht said.