It's been nearly three years since Sirius announced it would augment its satellite constellation to include a geostationary satellite, and now the new bird is preparing to launch.The Sirius FM-5 Satellite was successfully delivered to the Baikonur Cosmodrome earlier this week, and now the spacecraft itself has arrived and is going through preparations.
The rocket Proton-M with the booster block Breeze-M with the satellite on board will be launched in the beginning of July.
The new geostationary satellite is meant to improve redundancy, enhance coverage and provide "exceptional performance" according to the company. The Sirius FM-5 is said to be one of the most powerful satellites ever constructed, with end-of-life power capability at more than 20 kilowatts.
Click below to see a larger picture of the diagram, or check out the Mission Overview (PDF) or the dedicated blog documenting play-by-play the Sirius FM-5 launch.
The new geostationary satellite is meant to improve redundancy, enhance coverage and provide "exceptional performance" according to the company. The Sirius FM-5 is said to be one of the most powerful satellites ever constructed, with end-of-life power capability at more than 20 kilowatts.
Click below to see a larger picture of the diagram, or check out the Mission Overview (PDF) or the dedicated blog documenting play-by-play the Sirius FM-5 launch.
When is it due to launch?
just in time for the new rate hike coming july 29th ! http://www.xmfan.com/viewtopic.php?t=103093
I like the unique way Orbitcast continues to present stories and news articles with cool photos, charts, graphs, tables, etc.
I can't find this stuff anywhere else on the Web.
Keep it up.
Will this help with the HORRIBLE reception on the Sirius side? It drops out constantly. Even when I drive under a TREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4th ... read about it ..!
OMG 97 cents a month for multiple radio accounts. I wouldn't even have noticed that, but unlike you, Hank, I have a job. And no, "troll" doesn't count as a job.
Isn't it a little strange that the 'ground track' graphic shows the satellite never passing over North America?
I guess I'm missing something here.
Either way, I hope this improves reception on my Stiletto. That would be amazing!
The map is showing you the flight pattern before it "parks" so to speak, over the equator, the numbers represent each stage the rocket and satellite will go through as it seperates. This satellite is geostationary. It will orbit earth at the same speed, below north america at the equator. The previous three satellites for sirius are geosynchronous, they orbit over north america in a figure eight pattern. Right now, the current satellites follow the same path, everyday, part of their path is moving away from earth and then back again, so at times, the signal can be weak. This new satellite will always be in the same place, so it will help stationary antennas as well as filling in for the geosynchonous sats when they are out of range. You will notice a significant difference in signal reception. Right now Sirius has three geosyncronous sats, and XM has two geostationary sats. Hope this helps. Enjoy your stiletto.
Sirius Fm is going to raise your rates again on july 29th !
Wonder how long Sirius FM is going to continue offering these
"Please don't dump us as a subscriber cause we suck" deals whenever
someone tries to cancel.
That's the only reason why I still have multiple radios.
Since the merger (which was supposed to benefit subscribers) prices
have continued to skyrocket and the overall value of this service does
not live up to it.
Once again this morning I had to hear my favorite music interrupted
by a team of college interns putting on a so-called "morning show"
which consists of them laughing at each other's lame jokes.
Leave the humor to Howard and O&A and let us hear music without
you trying to mimic FM radio, the very thing that brought us to satellite.
Glorified FM radio at these prices?!
XM's sats are Rock and Roll (for XM 1 and 2) and Rythm and Blues (for XM 3 and 4). They couldn't think of a better name for SIRIUS's sat than "FM4". Aren't they the competition.
Not a major point but I think all of the goods points have already been made.
the beauty of a lifetime sub is that you never have to pay another dime!!!
I love it!
Where's this satellite gonna be parked?
The Rate is Not goig to Increase HANK,Contrary,customer will have the chance to have the BEST OF XM at a better price because,the Best of XM is $4.4 more on the monthly basis, as of July 29th it will only be $2.00 and it will be for a Limited time...
Reechard SIRIU Cust Care Rep...
I'm sorry, I just don't understand how this is going to work.
Each Sirius radio now receives 3 signals, 2 from sats (one of the 3 sats is always off) and 1 repeater. The two that are on use 2232.29 & 2330.21. The Ter Repeaters are all on 2326.25. The sats are gated on & off and change freq. as they orbit.
It would seem to me that it would be necessary to limit the 3 existing sat transponders to only one active at a time in order to activate this new geosync sat. I've been asking this for quite a while now but I have never received an answer.
Obviously I am missing something here. Can someone explain what they are going to do with this or give us a link?
Yes I do understand the advantage of a geosync transponder....that's NOT my question. What I want to know is which of the 3 Sirius slots this thing is going to use.
Does it bother anyone that they are using Russia to launch their satellite and not a US based service such as NASA or Sea Launch ??
Hoo Hoo I invented rockets.....
hey ryan talk about the rate hike coming july 29th !
Hey Hank,Seems like u dont understand.U do that on purpose.right?Dont u F***NG Understand?
It's not a rate hike. It's an additional fee. The base rate isn't going up.
Dont You know,the US governement is avoinding to have The AIR more Poluated than it is now...lol lol
Russia's ripping me off Robin. Tell 'em Fred.
I find it both funny and ironic that the satellite is named FM.
From an internal Sirius XM Document
Quote:
US Music Royalty Fee Overview
As an ongoing part of our business, SIRIUS XM must pay copyright music royalties to music
companies and music publishers. These royalties have risen dramatically over the past few
years, as a result of decisions of the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB). SIRIUS XM has tried to
keep these fees as low as possible but in the end, the company has very limited influence over these payments. The FCC decision approving the merger between SIRIUS and XM allows the company to pass through to Subscribers any federally mandated increases in music royalties that we must pay, since March 20, 2007. The FCC decision allows us to pass through this fee increase to our Subscribers and the company has chosen to do this with the U.S. Music Royalty Fee.
The US Music Royalty Fee will be applied to all music subscriptions that SIRIUS XM offers. The fee will be implemented on July 29th, 2009. The existing Subscriber base will receive this fee on their first billing after this date. The fee will be applied to all satellite plans with music content on a Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-Annual and all Annual Savings Plans. Lifetime Subscribers, who have purchased prior to July 29th, will never receive the US Music Royalty Fee. Since the online products are not satellite based they will not incur the U.S. Music Royalty Fee. Once the fee is introduced on July 29th, any new activation or conversion will include the fee. As we go through this training, you will gain a better understanding of how this fee is applied and how to explain it to the Subscribers. We will be going through different scenarios so you can understand why we are passing this fee onto our Subscribers, how to diffuse irate Subscribers, and how the Subscriber can truly benefit by adding longer term plans.
A support group of LCR’s will handle Subscribers calling in response to the US Music
Royalty Fee
The below are the XM and SIRIUS Terms & Conditions (T’s & C’s) including verbiage for
disclosing the US Music Royalty Fee. These Terms & Conditions will ensure that the
Subscriber has been informed about the US Music Royalty Fee that will be introduced starting July 29th.
Legacy XM T&C’s:
“OK. Mr./Mrs. _______, you’ve made a great decision. We will renew your service for (Insert plan selection). Your subscription will be subject to the US Music Royalty fee starting July 29th and is governed by the XM Customer Agreement which you can find on our website. Please be sure to read it. Thank you very much for your time today and enjoy your XM Satellite Radio! If we can be of
further assistance, please call 1-800-XMRADIO (800-967-2346). Thanks again and have a great day.”
Legacy SIRIUS T&C’s:
“OK. Mr./Mrs. _______, you’ve made a great decision. We will renew your service for (Insert plan selection). Your subscription will be subject to the US Music Royalty fee starting July 29th and is governed by our full Terms & Conditions which you can find on our website; please be sure to read it. Thank you very much for your time today and enjoy your SIRIUS Satellite Radio! If we can be of further assistance, please call 888-539-7474. Thanks again and have a great day.”
Attached FAQ
Quote:
US Music Royalty Fee- FAQ’s
Below are examples questions you may receive from Subscribers regarding the US Music
Royalty Fee. Use Answers below (as verbatim) when answering questions about why
there is a US Music Royalty Fee or costs associated with the US Music Royalty Fee.
What is this US Music Royalty Fee?
Unlike land based radio, both SIRIUS and XM are required to pay copyright music royalties to recording artists, musicians and recording companies who hold copyrights to lyrics and music.
Why are you increasing your price?
We are not increasing our base price which will remain at $12.95/month for most Subscribers.
Why are you charging me this fee?
US Music Royalty rights were established by Congress and are a product of the copyright ACT, the copyright royalty board which sets the rates SIRIUS XM must pay the music industry has increased the rates dramatically. Unfortunately we can no longer absorb these increased costs.
Who makes up the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB)?
The Copyright Royalty Board consists of three Copyright Royalty Judges who determine rates and terms for copyright statutory licenses and make determinations on distribution of statutory license royalties collected by the United States Copyright Office of the Library of Congress. The Board, made up of three permanent copyright royalty judges, was created under the Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004, These administrative judges are appointed by the Librarian of Congress
Why does it cost so much?
The Copyright Royalty Board which sets the rates SIRIUS XM must pay the music industry
have increased the rates dramatically. Unfortunately the Company can no longer absorb these increased costs and must pass them on to subscribers as a US Music Royalty Fee.
Is there any way to avoid this charge?
Absolutely, for our Subscribers who previously purchased a long term plan, we will continue to absorb these costs until the next renewal date. If you renew and extend your current subscription before July 29, 2009 we will continue to absorb these increased royalty costs until your next renewal date. I can tell you about some our great savings plans.
FCC Ruling stated you can't raise your price, why are you doing it?
This fee is consistent with our commitment not to raise the base price of specific service plans for three years after the merger. The FCC did however permit us to add this fee to our price beginning July 29, 2009.
18
Version: June 2009
This document contains the confidential and proprietary information of SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio.
How does this relate to the March Increase?
It is unrelated; the US Music Royalty Fee is to recover royalty cost increases that are outside of the control of SIRIUS XM
I just locked in for MRD, why are you increasing it again?
If you purchased a multi-month plan to lock in a lower price or to retain free streaming, the US Music Royalty Fee will not affect you until the next renewal date for the Plan you purchased.
Who gets the money?
The US Music Royalty Fee will be used to offset payments from SIRIUS XM to the music
industry
Do you foresee any changes in the fee?
The Copyright Royalty Board sets the fees that SIRIUS XM is required to pay. The fee is
expected to increase by one half percent per year through 2012.
Why did you decide to charge a US Music Royalty Fee rather than adding the increase to
the subscription fee?
The FCC order requires that we detail the royalty increase for our Subscribers
Why is the US MRF taxed?
Under applicable tax regulations, it has been determined that the US MRF is a taxable charge.
I only listen to news and talk radio, so why should I be charged the US MRF?
I understand, however it would be impossible to calculate the US Music Royalty Fee based on individual listening patterns of our Subscribers
You recently increased the price of my second radio by $2.00. Now you are adding a US
MRF of $.97. Isn’t this too much?
The discounted second radio price of $8.99 is still a 30% savings over our standard fee. The addition of a US Music Royalty Fee is necessary due to the dramatic increase in royalties that we have been forced to pay the music industry.
Was I paying this fee previously as part of my subscription price and now am I paying for
it separately?
Until July 29, 2009 the FCC required SIRIUS XM to pay the royalty increases, however the order provided the ability for us to pass along these royalty cost increases beginning July 29, 2009
If I have an A La Carte subscription am I only paying the fee on the music channels?
That’s a great question, SIRIUS –XM is obligated to pay the US Music Royalty Fee based on
the content available in packages, unfortunately we are not able to customize the fee for
individual Subscribers
US Music Royalty Fee- FAQ’s
Is there a way to reduce this cost--can I switch my subscription package to mostly music
You may switch to a mostly music package, which will save you $.45 a month in US Music
Royalty Fees, but if you do that, you will be giving up over xx channels (different for SIRIUS and XM) of great programming. However, let me tell you about some of our great savings plan which will allow you to delay the US Music Royalty Fee for the term of that plan.
I have an online radio subscription; do I pay a royalty fee on that?
No, the music royalties associated with satellite delivery and internet deliver y of music content are different. The royalties associated with internet listening is absorbed in the subscription price
I have 2 subscriptions a Best of and a SIRIUS Everything why is the fee the same on both
subscriptions The US Music Royalty Fee is based on music; the channels included in the Best of portion of your package do not include large amounts of music, so no US Music Royalty fee is due on that portion of your subscription.
That is A LIE..There is no Godam 97 cents per month as the US Music Royalty Fee.OH Jesus,U suck Hank
jerkoff the fee goes into effect july 29th look it up.
Sea Launch is a Joint Venture between Boeing and a RUSSIAN company.
Has there been much mentioned about additional services that will be possible after this bird is active? IE, XM had a lot a of data services that looked promising but to date haven't gone far.
Dumb ass they have been paying that fee all along they are just passing it along to you now ! Funny how Mel said the merger would be good for customers and they would get the best of both services for cheaper than what they are paying now and the fee's keep going up ! Ala carte anyone ? MLB on Sirius anyone ? 2 price increases in 4 months anyone ? SatRader's are like batterd wives .
Why are you posting this bullshit here. Why dont you wait until the subject comes up, nobody gives a shit about this! I thought you were so into your fucking slacker anyways, why are you trolling satrad websites? Dont give me that bullshit about how Ryan covers internet radio, you go to more sites than this one. Please, deflate your girlfriend and get a fucking life. 2 dollar fee, fuck you, I'd pay a two dollar fee just to watch you get beaten once a month. Fuck off.
Well done COMMONSENSE....
I like to spread the word and when SatRad falls i will rejoice !
Tell Em about the discount Harry!
What an asshole you are, your rate is going to be higher now and you're still defending Sirius FM hehehe, you're mediocre!!!
You must be a politician! Don't rag on SiriusFM, all businesses do it (look at your cable and phone bill). They break out all of the fees, taxes and overhead as separate line items and keep the same base price and say "I didn't increase the price"
Anyone know where they're parking this one? What Longitude?
Nice try hank, I believe we were talking about a new sat being launched, not a price increase. I see your posting as anonymous now, getting sick of everyone telling you to fuck off? You must be one bored motherfucker to keep this lame rap up. Fuck off. BTW, shoutcast sucks, stop talking about it. There are still some people in this world with enough integrity to pay for services they enjoy. Please fuck off.
I apologize for continuing the off-topic posts, but this is an interesting point. It's surprising that an internal Sirius XM document, if this is indeed genuine, would be so poorly written. On second thought, maybe it's not all that surprising.
There's stuff posted all over the place about this. Obviously that does not make it true, but it's starting to look more credible all the time.
It would be ironic if Sirius XM, after slashing XM's music playlists to the bone on every channel, were to ask subscribers to pay more for, of all things, music licensing. Maybe what they could do is just offer the artists a flat fee to buy outright the 50 or so songs in continuous rotation on every channel, and then the music licensing fees would just come right back to Sirius XM, or at least what's left of them after the promoters, lawyers and Mafiosos take their cut.
Fact is before the merger I had in my home 2 radios for which I paid $13 for one and $7 for the other. I also got a free high quality online stream. To get that now would cost me $26 per month or an increase of 30% since the merger. I'd also argue the quality of programming has drastically declined too but there's no denying the math for the massive price increases.
Is that an HD Radio strapped to the side - LOL! So, who's gonna pay for this new launch and bird? Another huge IOU?
Uhm yeah it should improve and address the reception issues. Love the fact that the word "FM" is in the name... XM has actually 4 geostationary satellites, never launch a geosynchronous because it would have been a fool move...
Oh yeah and none of those sats have "FM" anywhere near their names...
That looks like typical spin from the company... Hank is telling the truth... Whether people like it or not. Oh and by the way XM was paying royalties previously... There was a pending suit brought against XM a few years back (and settled) during the launch of the original XMP3 players (Helix and Inno)... So royalties were paid...
But since XM is considered a "subsidiary" company of Sirius... (Because it was never a true merger but an acquisition) --- A lot of common business practices that made sense to conduct (like geostationary satellites for example, and meeting regulatory compliance practices) are frequently dismissed by the "BIG SISTER" company Sirius... Unfortunately you have a bunch of inexperienced management making money decisions that do not possess the knowledge or skillset to make interests in the best interest of the company... And that's because the side of the company that was capable of making those decisions are no longer there. They were given a pink slip or severance package... Last time i checked, XM stock never saw 11 cents, 34 cents, or anything under $1 since the company's inception... Even after 9/11... So all of you Sirius jock riders, keep riding until the wheels fall the h*ll off, because trust me they will and they are...
"The rocket Proton-M with the booster block Breeze-M with the satellite on board will be launched in the beginning of July."
I hope the iPhone app will be launched by then, but it looks like Apple is going to reject it. Why else would they not spotlight it? It's the most anticipated app for the iPhone - ever! So, I think it's a bust.
SPEAK UP MEL! It looks like Apple, Cramer, and Malone are making you their b!tch.
Folks, the "FM" in the name does not stand for "Frequency Modulation", or anything to do with radio at all. It stands for "Flight Model". It is a standard term used in aerospace...
A few comments follow from someone who's been building Sirius satellites since back when they were called "CD Radio". Only the first comment relates to your question.
1) FM5 is being "parked" at 96 degrees West Longitude
2) As Satdude mentioned, FM stands for Flight Model, not Frequency Modulation. Yes, that is an unfortunate naming choice. Sirius currently has FM1, FM2, and FM3 in orbit, with FM4 on the ground as a spare.
3) The FM1-3 satellites are in a geosynchronous "tundra" orbit, inclined about 63 degrees above the equatorial plane. The FM5 satellite will be in a geosynchronous orbit too, but it is not geostationary. It starts off inclined by five degrees, and will gradually change between five and zero degrees inclination as the years go by, passing through zero and returning eventually to five before starting the cycle over again. That means that the satellite will be moving up and down a little relative to the horizon, one cycle per day, but not nearly as much as the FM1-3 satellites.
4) Some comments have disparaged the used of the tundra orbit. There are trade-offs between an equatorial orbit and a tundra orbit. In my particular case, I like the tundra orbit. I frequently have to drive a 40 mile stretch on a highway with a steep cliff on the south side of the road, and my Sirius reception is fine. My father, who has XM, gets no reception in that stretch because the XM satellites are below the "horizon" of the cliff.
Why are there so many Sat Radio haters? Are you all in the terrestrial radio biz?
Really, why not come clean and give us the real reason why you hate sat.rad. If someone wants to pay for quality and choice why not let them. It's their money.
Another possible explaination is that the "anti-satraders" are short sellers trying to keep the stock down. Google: "Sirius market manipulation" to see why the stock price is so low.