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.