The Federal Communications Commission has dismissed the application by Satellite CD Radio Inc. (aka Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.) to launch and operate the FM-6 satellite.

The FM-6 satellite was to replace two of Sirius' satellites - FM-1 and FM-2 - and would ultimately reduce the number of satellites in Sirius' network.

Sirius will still be allowed to reapply. The reason the FCC dismissed the application is because Sirius didn't provide enough information on how the satellite would be disposed of. In other words, the space-junk strategy, or as the FCC puts it "orbital debris mitigation plans."

The agency asked for two additional items, which - for all intents and purposes - are just too darn technical to translate into a post that you're not going to read anyway.

So if you're a satellite-geek, go ahead and click the jump to read the additional requests, or read the full FCC document (PDF) yourself.

ICO Global Communications will be launching its G1 satellite from Cape Canaveral today.

It's not only the largest satellite ever launched by an Atlas rocket, but the ICO G1 is one of the largest commercial satellites ever built and is specifically designed to deliver signals to mobile and portable devices.

If the launch is successful, ICO will be the first mobile satellite services provider to become operational, and the first to deploy DVB-SH (digital video broadcast - satellite-to-handheld) technology in the United States.

There will be a live webcast of the launch starting at 3:40pm ET - the launch window is from 4:12pm - 5:12pm EST - so check it out. If the launch slips, they'll start it up again tomorrow at around the same time.

Sirius disclosed today at the investor conference call that the company will delay the launch of their new satellite.

When asked about the status of Sirius' satellite launches, Sirius CFO David Frear said that the company will defer the launch of the Sirius 5 satellite from the fourth quarter of 2008 to the second quarter of 2009.

"There is nothing particularly notable about the delay," Frear said during the call.

"We don't really need the satellite from an operational perspective until mid-2010, so just based on the pacing of the program, we have elected to defer the launch by a few months," he added.

Sirius announced in mid-2006 that they plan to augment their constellation by launching a new geosynchronous satellite. Sirius 5, manufactured by Space Systems/Loral, will have an end-of-life power capability at more than 20 kilowatts and be one of the most powerful ever constructed.

ICO Global Communications will be launching their satellite, the ICO G-1, from Cape Canaveral, Florida in April.

The geosynchronous satellite will be used to transmit video, navigation and emergency assistance information to mobile devices in vehicles. The service, called ICO mim (mim = "mobile interactive media") will be run in trial-mode by the end of this year, and will be offered commercially in early 2009, according to ICO executives.

ICO has spent $450-$500 million in the new program, and just spent $44 million to get the satellite insured. The launch and in-orbit insurance coverage is for up to $344 million during the launch phase and up to $278 million during the in-orbit phase.

ICO G-1, built by Space Systems/Loral, will be launched by Lockheed Martin on April 14th. The spacecraft will be shipped to the Cape this week.

[ICO]

The USS Lake Erie scored a direct hit at 10:26pm ET last night on the failing spy satellite, leaving little else behind but pieces "nothing larger than a football," Pentagon officials said today.

Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an expert on military space technologies, said the government has a "high degree of confidence" that the missile launched last night hit exactly where intended.

But forget all that, we all want to see the satellite go boom. Sure, the video is a little grainy, but Cartwright is kind enough to slow down the footage so we get the full "impact" (ha! get it?).

[via Engadget]

Watch the video after the jump...

As you probably already know by now, the US Navy is preparing to shoot down a rogue spy satellite - the event is scheduled to occur tonight at 10:30pm ET from warships located just west of Hawaii.

The satellite, known as USA-193 or NROL-21, is set to be hit by a $10 million missile - breaking it into lots of teeny-tiny pieces thanks to the 22,000 mph impact. The full tank of hydrazine fuel is hoped to explode upon impact.

And it's that 1,000lbs of frozen, toxic hydrazine fuel that's the whole reason she's getting shot out of the sky to begin with. We really don't need those deadly fumes spread over an area of two football fields. Hydrazine is similar to chlorine or ammonia in that it affects the lungs and breathing tissue.

The first shot will be fired by Aegis missile cruiser USS Lake Erie, with the USS Decatur destroyer waiting as backup just in case that first shot misses. Considering the target is 150 miles up, and they have a 10-second window to hit their mark, that's not a bad idea.

Hopefully, all that debris will burn up in the atmosphere and we'll live happily ever after. According to SatNews, over the past 50 years or so, approximately 17,000 man-made objects have re-entered the Earth's atmosphere—no one has ever been hurt by this falling debris.

Though one veteran satellite-watcher was a little startled when he realized the debris cloud would go across central Canada on it's ascending pass a few minutes after impact. After that, it'll go across a bit of western Africa and eastern Australia.

Check out the debris cloud plot after the jump...

Space Systems/Loral has been awarded the contract by Sirius to build their sixth satellite.

Sirius FM-6, which is the crafty name for the new bird, will be a high-power satellite designed to operate in a highly inclined elliptical orbit.

Based on SS/L's 1300 platform, the Sirius FM-6 satellite will provide nearly double the power of Sirius' other satellites in orbit. Sirius FM-6 is scheduled to be completed in 2010 and will provide over 15 years of service life.

Sirius announced last year that SS/Loral would be building their next satellite - Sirius FM-5. Sirius FM-5 is to be a geostationary satellite (similar to XM's setup... incidentally SS/Loral is building the XM-5 satellite as well) and would be used to augment the constellation. The introduction of Sirius FM-6 is proof positive that Sirius intends to continue with it's current highly inclined elliptical orbit constellation setup.

Sirius did not announce the launch provider for the new satellite.

Space Systems/Loral this year has turned 50. Founded back in 1957, SS/Loral was a pioneer in communications satellites and today remains as a leader in the industry of high-powered commercial spacecraft.

The company was founded as the Western Development Laboratories division of Philco Corporation in 1957 and started construction of the first building on its current campus in Palo Alto, California that same year. It became Philco-Ford in 1966, having been purchased by Ford Motor Company in 1961, and later was renamed Aeronutronic Ford and finally Ford Aerospace. The latter's space division took the name Space Systems/Loral when it was acquired in 1990 by Loral Space & Communications and a consortium of international partners. In 1997, Loral became the sole owner of SS/L, and today it remains SS/L's parent company.

Space Systems/Loral (at that time Philco) launched its first communications satellite, Courier 1B, in 1960. Courier was the world's first active repeater satellite, and to highlight this new technology, it was used to transmit a message from President Eisenhower to the United Nations.

Today, SS/L now has about 2,200 employees and a campus of more than 25 buildings in Palo Alto, California. Clients include both Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, as well as both DISH Network and DirecTV (to name a few).

[Space Systems/Loral History] 

There's an interesting article in Radio & Records today about the Live Earth coverage on XM Satellite Radio, but what struck me the most was that XM fed its stream direct to Sirius.

"XM had more than 60 people stationed at Wembly Stadium in London and Giant’s Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., collecting sound and producing interviews for seven XM music channels carrying various concerts from Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hamburg, London, Johannesburg, Rio De Janeiro and New York. XM took sound from the Intelsat pool and fed it to competitors Sirius Satellite Radio and Premiere Radio Networks along with World Space, Italy’s RDS and Radio Express."

What's interesting about this is that it clearly demonstrates that XM and Sirius can share streams with ease, and in real time. I'm not sure if this was the first time they've done this, but it's interesting nonetheless. If you're curious how Sirius/XM would be able to share content across platforms in a post-merger world... well, this is it.

(Read the R&R article for more on the Live Earth coverage. There's a funny bit in there involving Spinal Tap.)

Oh by the way, Premiere is radio syndication company in the U.S. with over 5,000 stations worldwide, and on the Internet, picking up their stream. They're owned by Clear Channel of course, which is the largest radio corporation in the U.S. to boot.

But yet, "they" say terrestrial radio doesn't compete with satellite radio on the nationwide basis.

[Radio & Records]
Thanks Tim!

Mel Karmazin said before a House telecommunications subcommittee hearing yesterday that both XM's and Sirius' satellite infrastructure would continue to operate for at least 10 to 12 years.

It's nothing that hasn't been said before, but Mel was clarifying for subcommittee chairman Edward Markey (D-MA) about whether or not the merger could result in spectrum being freed up for other purposes.

Sirius has previously announced that they will be launching three new satellites, the first one - a geostationary one - will obviously remain in operation for quite some time. The 2016 timeline was a theoretical one that was simply meant to illustrate to the Congressman that we have a very long time before the networks themselves would change significantly.

The main point, that apparently needs to be constantly clarified (well, at least for Congress), is that both XM's and Sirius' current customers will continue to operate for current subscribers.

Gary Parsons, XM's Chairman, during the Q&A session of the merger announcement conference call said that "certain [XM] satellites" do have the ability to broadcast across the entire 25Mhz spectrum, but that would be much further out. It's a point that was echoed by Karmazin at the hearing mentioning that Sirius' own (newer?) satellites might have this ability. Whether or not these capabilities will open up spectrum for better sound-quality and/or additional services is still unclear. What we do know is that the cross-service abilities would be first done at the chip-set level (i.e., interoperable radios) in the much nearer term.

Sirius' new geostationary satellite is planned to be launched sometime in late 2008.

[MarketWatch]