[SatNews] International Launch Services (ILS) has announced a staff reduction “to align better with our current level of business. None of the staff reductions were performance-related,” ILS President, Phil Slack said.

“Staffing at ILS is now at a level that is consistent with our near-term business, which required us to decrease our workforce by roughly 25 percent. This level of staffing is appropriate for our current backlog and our customers will continue to be well-supported. Previous staffing was consistent with planning for 7-8 launches per year. We are now targeting for 3-4 missions annually,” said Slack. “We continue to actively pursue new business.  If it is determined that we need to ramp up our existing staff to accommodate additional missions in the future, we will be able to accomplish this in a relatively rapid manner,” added Slack.

The Proton launch vehicle has been heavily relied upon by the commercial satellite industry for more than 20 years with a strong Federal anchor program.  Soon to be approaching its 400th launch over 49 years of service, the Proton vehicle has experienced a series of evolutionary improvements to meet the demands of the market. ILS has the exclusive rights to market the Proton vehicle commercially.

The ILS infosite may be accessed via http://www.ilslaunch.com/