spacetoday.net: Lockheed to sell stake in ILS

Posted: Thu, Sep 7, 2006, 8:05 PM ET (0005 GMT)
Proton launch (file photo)

Lockheed Martin announced Thursday that it would sell its share of launch services provider International Launch Services (ILS), ending a decade-long partnership with Russia. Lockheed will sell its ownership interests in ILS and another Russian joint venture, Lockheed Khrunichev Energia International, Inc., to Space Transport Inc., a largely unknown company. Terms of the sale were not disclosed although Lockheed said the sale, scheduled to close by the end of this year, would not have "a material effect" on the company's finances. ILS had marketed Lockheed's Atlas vehicle and the Russian Proton rocket to commercial customers worldwide; ILS will now only market the Proton as well as another Russian rocket, the Angara, currently under development. Lockheed will retain rights to market the Atlas 5 to commercial customers. ILS was established in 1995 by Lockheed, Khrunichev, and Energia to jointly market US and Russian rockets commercially.