ILS Names Pysher VP of Mission Service Assurance and Product Development

Reston, Va., August 23, 2013 — International Launch Services (ILS) has appointed Kirk Pysher as vice president of mission assurance and product development.ILS said Pysher will be in charge of bolstering ILS’ focus on performance with responsibility for the overall quality review and monitoring of the Proton Quality Management System (QMS), oversight of Proton production processes and procedures.

He will be reporting regularly to industry customers and insurers on quality improvements performed by Khrunichev State 

Research and Production Space Center (Khrunichev). Physer will report directly to ILS President, Phil Slack.

Pysher will also be responsible for overseeing ILS product development activities at Khrunichev, ILS’ majority owner and manufacturer of the Proton launch vehicle, to include performance upgrades and new capabilities that align with customers’ future requirements.

Pysher brings to ILS over 20 years of experience serving the commercial launch industry, most recently as chief operating officer at Energia Logistics US, where he was responsible for all aspects of engineering and operations for the Sea Launch program. Prior to that post, he was the vice president and chief systems engineer for Boeing-Sea Launch. 

Pysher received a Masters and Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from Penn State University and obtained a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certificate from Purdue University.