The Sirius FM-5 Satellite, Sirius XM's latest addition to their satellite constellation, is scheduled to launch at 1:10am local time (3:10pm ET) on July 1st from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The launch was originally targeted for a June 30th launch, but "minor anomaly" occurred which caused a slight delay in plans.
The Sirius FM-5 Satellite was delivered just about a month ago and has been undergoing preparations for launch since.
The Proton launch vehicle, utilizing a 5-burn Breeze M mission design, will lift off from Pad 39 at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, with the Sirius FM-5 satellite on board.
The Sirius FM-5 Satellite - based on the Space Systems/Loral 1300 platform - is said to be one of the most powerful satellites ever constructed, and will be the first geostationary satellite in Sirius' roster of satellites.
The first three stages of the Proton will use a standard ascent profile to place the Ascent Unit (Breeze M upper stage and the Sirius FM-5 satellite) into a suborbital trajectory. From this point in the mission, the Breeze M will maneuver the Ascent Unit to a circular parking orbit, then to an intermediate orbit, followed by a transfer orbit, and finally to a geo-transfer orbit.
Separation of the Sirius FM-5 satellite is scheduled to occur approximately 9 hours, 14 minutes after liftoff.
The Sirius FM-5 satellite is expected to have an anticipated lifespan of 15-years.
[ILS Mission Control]
The Proton launch vehicle, utilizing a 5-burn Breeze M mission design, will lift off from Pad 39 at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, with the Sirius FM-5 satellite on board.
The Sirius FM-5 Satellite - based on the Space Systems/Loral 1300 platform - is said to be one of the most powerful satellites ever constructed, and will be the first geostationary satellite in Sirius' roster of satellites.
The first three stages of the Proton will use a standard ascent profile to place the Ascent Unit (Breeze M upper stage and the Sirius FM-5 satellite) into a suborbital trajectory. From this point in the mission, the Breeze M will maneuver the Ascent Unit to a circular parking orbit, then to an intermediate orbit, followed by a transfer orbit, and finally to a geo-transfer orbit.
Separation of the Sirius FM-5 satellite is scheduled to occur approximately 9 hours, 14 minutes after liftoff.
The Sirius FM-5 satellite is expected to have an anticipated lifespan of 15-years.
[ILS Mission Control]
Is this the satellite that contains the XM programming that was cut after the merger? Perhaps the delay was the inclusion of the anti-repetition software...
.. and there will be a premium fee of $2.99 to listen to Howard 100 and Howard 101 from this satellite.
Can anyone explain to me why we are still launching satellites when they are worried about not being able to pay Howard to stay on longer? These satellites are all well and good, but if you don't have the original content to play that people want (sorry roaches, the 0.0/Open & Anus show don't count) then nobody is going to subscribe to this shit anymore. Stop wasting money on this and use this cash to resign Howard and keep the revolution going on Sirius. Otherwise it will be back on FM, along with millions of paying subs!
no
hatters, hatters,hatters that all i can see in this blog, go ahead and cancel your acct. and that's it.. OMG!!!!
This satellite was in the making since 2006, if Sirius backed out there probably was a fianancial penalty involved.
boom boom pow
Sure I can explain it to you. You see without the satellites you can hear shit.
So it doesn't matter how much you pay Howard if no one can hear him now does it?
As you can read from the article, this satellite has a life span of 15 years. Which means the current satellites are getting older.
I would find it very odd for anyone to disagree with Sirius making absolutely sure the basis for their entire existance is stable and functioning. Plus the signal could use a much needed boost anyway.
Hatters? You mean people involved in the production and sale of hats?
What I want to know is what is Sirius *really* doing with that money. They're obviously not going to spend any more of it trying to keep that toothless dinosaur hack on channels 100 and 101 any more.
Launching giant #2 pencils into space is not the solution to your problems, my friends!
just another asset in sirius' vast array of assets showing how undervalued the stock continues to be at present.
Wow, most powerful communications satellite ever launched!---non-military I'm sure!
I think this web-site has become a magnant for "detractors and malevolent folks"! There is no real dialogue, just diatribe!
At any rate, enjoying my Sirius service, and looking forward to new applications as a result of the new sats going-up!
*Why CBS-Radio and Clear-Chanel chose death over getting involved in the "new-radio-medium", I don't think I'll ever understand!
Liberty Media "gets-it"...but the old-dying-paradigm, is more hell-bent on dying than anything else I can see!
"Can anyone explain to me why we are still launching satellites when they are worried about not being able to pay Howard to stay on longer?"
Sure. Sirius inked the deal before their financial troubles got this bad. Most likely, there's a clause in the contract that they have to pay $x-amount to terminate the contract. It would cost them more to back out now than to go ahead and launch the satellite.
What is the purpose of this satellite? Back-up? Stronger signal? more programming including the FCC required stations?
Also, is it only for the Sirius service or XM as well?
HOPEFULLY, this Satellite will do two things..
1-Better/stronger signal.
2-Merge the FULL bandwidth spectrum of Sirius and XM.
... It would be so nice to be able to pick up reception in suburban Pittsburgh without an antenna on my friggin' roof... It is about time..
Believe me, I'm no hater. I've had XM since 12/2001, just a few months after launch. I have seen it grow and change...it certainly is not the same since the merger. The music was much better before. Perhaps with Zellner gone, Sirius XM can focus on music and not try to make it like FM w/o commercials. No, not a hater, just a realist.
SatRad is the best music source out there. Hands Down, the best.
This satellite will boost the signal and make my listening experience even better when I drive. All the other options don't come close.
Go Siri Go!
Now scram kids, stop your bitch'n.
I say "YAY!!!"
OK the Company did not plan to (A) Merge and (B) Be in the middle of a steep recession when they entered into a contract 3 years ago to build this bird.
Personally I can't WAIT for this baby to be launched and activated. Maybe I can remove the Sat Antennas from the outside of my house.
Also much better reception at my office. SIRI cuts out at about 10:30AM each day and resumes decent reception at about 5pm. A nice Geostationary bird will fix that problem.
When does this satellite become active? Immediately? Or, will there be a delay between the time it reaches orbit and the time it starts transmitting to Sirius' receivers?
Stern is not nearly as important to this company as he was 4 years ago. In fact, I'd venture to say at this juncture Sirius-Xm is more important to his career than the other way around.
Back in the good old XM days they had pictures (and also video If I remember correctly) of XM's sat launches from a ship in the ocean.
Something about it being in the equator and cheaper to launch.
Leave it to Mel to hand it over to the Ruskies.
I know,I know, the Ruskies are doing it on the cheap but everything Mel does is on the cheap. Like some posters were saying about how crappy the programming has gotten.
The worse thing that ever happened in SatRad's short history is this damn acquisition/merger.
This is considered a capital expense and can be used as a write off. Technically, they (sirius and xm) have done bad financially since their inception. They are finally making some progress. Most people assume they are doing bad because the programming has changed or because they lost a few subs. I believe the financial troubles you refer to are actually called merger expences, liberty media is covering that at 15%interest.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/SIRIUS-XM-Radio-Reports-First-prnews-15162981.html
The satellite:
a) is expected to have a lifespan of 15-years
or
b) has an anticipated lifespan of 15-years
Not "expected to have an anticipated lifespan of 15-years." This is bad writing.
Bad writing = fail.
(Also: illiterate commenters = fail.)
I'm sure this new satellite is more than just a replacement for the aging ones currently in orbit. Since it would have been designed after Mel came on board, its technology may have incorporated some of Mel's ideas for his vision of the company.
Unfortunately, all the wiz-bang electronics in the world won't help Howard's tired guest line-up. I don't know how many more interviews with lesbians and porn stars I can take.
I'm finding myself listening more and more to that space cadet Reilly Martin on 101 than I do Howard or Bubba. Not good.
Is Zellner gone? Can someone confirm this? If so, one huge leap for mankind. He was the biggest cancer in that company (next to Mel of course).
The improvement in technology sounds fine and dandy, but Sirius FM has still not improved the things that matter the most to all of us...
1. Sound quality. Don't you love rolling down the car windows on a nice hot day blasting Sirius FM on your speakers but hearing nothing but distortion? That's because the bitrate is so low that you can't play your Sirius FM radio loud without the music becoming distorted at high volume levels.
2. Talk radio on the music channels. My, you got to love music being interrupted every morning on "20 on 20" with a Morning Zoo of college interns who aren't funny but yet love to laugh at each other nonetheless.
3. All the music channels littered with DJ banter, jingles and promotions (but they don't have commercials --right?!). Sure sounds like food ol' FM radio. But wait...FM music playslists are larger.
4. O&A being treated like garbage by management. At least they do a show every Friday.
In fact, listen to Opie and Anthony daily and you can get a good idea of how inept management is at Sirius.
Well he is a big-nosed Jew. What did you expect??
ron and fez 11 to 3
NJRondo, is that wrench icon a symbol that means TOOL?
Speculation:
It is reasonable to suppose that SIRI FM-5 will be capable of transmitting to the existing base of XM receivers, as well as the SIRI units.
That being the case, is it likely that SIRI/XM will try to sell off the existing fleet of XM sats to another operator? Maybe drift them off to GEO slots in Europe for use by WorldSpace?
Perhaps the XM birds can be reconfigured for other "Bent pipe" type uses?
THat would surely save SIRI/XM a butt-load of money in operating costs.
IF not, drift the XM Fleet to other continents and expand your customer base. (Too bad the world economy sucks right now.)
Food for thought...
Why do so many people think Howard is the glue that holds this company together?!? Craziness...i preferred Bubba before they censored him. Howard is okay, but 95% of listeners of SXM subscribe for many other reasons...with Howard out of the Top 5...my Top 5 would be Octane, Lithium, CNN, ESPN & some other music...Howard is in the Top 10, but if he doesn't sign up, it will not change my mind about Sirius being awesome...
sat launched today with video of the launch, all went well. Don't understand why a SatRad site doesn't have up-to-date info.
FM-5 launched today.
Hey HookedOnPhonics, you sounds like a HATTER
FYI...The Satellite has already launched.
And for those who are worried about the costs of this dont forget its still a highly valuable asset probably worth more in the air then on the ground as another spare bird.
Probably wont be available for use several months.
That's all we ever will see on these boards. Nothing but a bunch of people whining like 15 year olds about everything. Wish they would cancel there subs already so we could read these boards and not have to see no stop bitching.
The people who are excited about launching a multi-multi million dollar satellite are f'ing ridiculous. Anyone who thinks that a SATELLITE is the best way to distribute audio content is a noob. I'm sure it sounded revolutionary 10 years ago but with broadband, streaming, etc. this is an unnecessary expense that will inevitably be the downfall of SatRad.
Sorry but satellite's are the problem, not the solution (content aside - that is a whole 'nother fuck up).
The people who are excited about launching a multi-multi million dollar satellite are f'ing ridiculous. Anyone who thinks that a SATELLITE is the best way to distribute audio content is a noob. I'm sure it sounded revolutionary 10 years ago but with broadband, streaming, etc. this is an unnecessary expense that will inevitably be the downfall of SatRad.
Sorry but satellite's are the problem, not the solution (content aside - that is a whole 'nother fuck up).
SIRIUS FM-5 Mission Success!
Posted by ILS Communications Team, 12:30 AM on 1 July 2009
We have had a successful mission with the Proton M Breeze M rocket, carrying the SIRIUS FM-5 satellite built by Space Systems Loral for SIRIUS XM Radio, Inc. We have had confirmation that the satellite separated from the vehicle on schedule at 12:24 AM Eastern Time, or 04:24 GMT, 9 hours and 14 minutes after liftoff.
Everything occurred as planned with ignition, shutdown and separation of the Proton’s first three stages, then the Breeze M upper stage with the satellite continued the
Do you type with your hood on?
Just curious.
maybe they will raise prices again to pay for this
They are launching satellites because without operational satellites the company will cease to exist.... they need to keep Stern, but but nobody will be able to subscribe to hear him if they don't have operational satellites.
so when does the new satellite become operational? i.e., when can i expect to experience the improved signal reception. do they have any sort of timeline?
To Recondo72:
XM used the Boeing Sea Launch which, coincidently, just declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. But it was a cool and revolutionary idea, just like the original XM.
/blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/archives/172318.asp?from=blog_last3
Follow the Sea Launch story at this link. The story of the first XM Satellite ("Rock") starts on January 2, 2001 and continues through March 18, 2001.
http://www.boeing.com/special/sea-launch/news.htm
Initially I enjoyed Howard. But he has become boring. He is the greatest interviewer bar none when he has a good guest. But his list of guests is getting smaller every year. What I find the most boring is when he interviews a porn star or stripper. How immature ... what's the point? When that happens I change the channel to listen to something else. I love good looking women .. but over the radio? What's the point?
I hope they keep Howard but not at his over priced rate. He needs Sirius XM more than they need him. He would have to retire. Can you see him trying to walk the line back on FM? If he doesn't sign back on. I may miss him but will keep my Sirius account.
Jason - It's the summer and 2009, they get to wear white baseball caps now...
Well the satellite is properly named . FM 5 . LOL satrader's pay for radio !
Broadband/Streaming huh???
Fine if you're sitting around in your shorts eating Fritos in your parents basement but some of us have to work for a living and streaming is firewalled at work. Unless you live in an area where WiFi is accessable or the cellular service is 3 or 4 bars 100% all the fucking time or you've got a REALLY long internet hardline with a automatic reel system while you're driving,a lot of us need something else to get some type of music/entertainment besides sitting around all damn day downloading,etc
I do access some stuff via broadband like "Zoltar's Subterranean" since that piece of shit "Area" took "The System"'s place and some Slacker comedy since "Rawdog" is a piece of shit as well. "Blue Collar" basically features the same 5 or so comedians and rotate the bits so damn often but it takes too much time for downloading when all I have to do is transfer my receiver from car to office.
I wholeheartly agree that the content has tanked.
NJRonbo:
Yep, Zellner's gone but his replacement is just as bad. Another Sirius suck-up who has been raised on the commercial terra radio teat and it is encoded in his DNA.
WAKE UP.
It has been launched and is in the parking orbit for over 24 hours now.
WAKE UP ORBITCAST.
All the people criticizing Howard Stern and not thinking he's the big factor in Sirius starting to dominate the Satellite radio sector before the merger are fools.
First of all, Sirius had 650,000 subscribers before Howard came on board. A year later, they had 2,000,0000 and they were gaining on XM who had a HUGE lead in subcribers. I got my Sirius when Howard joined Sirius and my first year of ownership, everyone always asked if my satellite radio was XM. But a year later, people clearly knew there were 2 different satellite radio companies and it was because of Howard.
If you were an XM subscriber, its obvious that Howard wasn't a factor in you subscribing BUT Howard was the factor in the 2 satellite radio companies merging. Although XM still had more subscribers before the merger, Sirius was gaining on XM fast due consumers choosing Sirius over XM again direcly or indirectly due to Howard. Howard was making Sirius a household name whether people liked it or not. Also, XM was losing subscribers due to crappy programming and XM started to play commercials on their music channels while Sirius stayed commercial free for the music channels.
All the Howard Stern haters could still hate on him but you all should show some respect because as old as that hooked nosed Jew bastard is, he is still very relevent in the industry, satellite or terrestrial.
Put Howard & all his hoo hoo heads in it. Good riddance!
Anonymous,
Can you please explain how I will be able to take broadband/streaming music with me on the road? Cell phone? Nope, still won't even cover 1/4th of the area a satellite can. Not to mention I can't run an antenna outdoors for a cell phone when it's signal fucks up indoors.
Get a clue noob.
Your comment is no different. I hate people like you that do nothing but tell the people unhappy with their current service to "fuck off and cancel". All you're doing is whining yourself you fucking queer.
First, they are canceling. If you enjoy SDARS that's not something you want. If enough cancel, either SDARS goes away or you will pay even more than you do now. Keep telling yourself it's only a few dollars. So far for me it's been a 50% price increase.
Second, if you want everyone in agreement go to sirius.com and get on their message boards where they'll delete any objectionable posts.
Finally, go fuck your mother. It'll slide right in, she's still gooey from me.
Check out this new mobile broadband service. The cost is somewhat high, but it serves more purpose than just music. Have you heard channel 113, uncle sam radio? The sound quality of this channel is bad. I am starting to loose faith in the progress of this company. I was willing to give them a chance to restructure, but I am starting to think "quality" is not part of the restructuring.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_087ANMRTR1/Autonet-Mobile-Router.html?search=autonet&tp=9465
SIRIUS FM-5 Up
SIRIUS FM-6 Next...
http://www.ilslaunch.com/news-022908
SIRIUS expects to launch SIRIUS FM-6 under the contract announced today. SIRIUS FM-6 is currently under construction at Space Systems/Loral and is anticipated to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2010. SIRIUS has not announced plans to utilize the second launch announced today.
The Proton booster and the Breeze M upper stage are built by ILS’ Russian partner, Khrunichev Space Center of Moscow. The Proton vehicle launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
“We thank SIRIUS for selecting Proton, and for its long-term relationship with ILS,” said ILS President Frank McKenna. “We launched SIRIUS’ initial constellation of three satellites in 2000. Proton has the ideal performance for SIRIUS, with both its heavy-lift capability and its flexibility to carry spacecraft to various orbits.”
Commonsense:
Thanks for your reply.
I'll check out the Crutchfield site. I've ordered a bunch of stuff from Crutchfield over the years. Wish I had a dollar for every one I've spent since 1977. Kinda like that old flagship Circut City. But hey, I spent a shitload of money in both places and see where that's got us. Both stores have stuff worth a damn without being overpriced but everyone else wants to buy shit from Walmart. Only thing is we're not talking about snooty high dollar stuff but something that's worth a damn and dosen't cost an arm & leg but ain't a piece of shit from Walmart either!!
Haven't checked out channel 113 yet. Is that an XM channel??
I'm an XM subscriber BTW. But only till Feb 2010 as it stands now........
As far as "Quality".....
That's NOT in Mel's and his minions equation whatsoever and sadly, never has been. These guys are only interested in selling stuff no matter how shitty the product.
That has been Sirius' charter/mission since day one. Sell a bunch of crap to the semi-informed/aware subscribers. Sirius's product has always been INFERIOR to the XM product. Sadly Panero stabbed us in the back and betrayed us.
I'm kinda hoping the whole thing will fail because the way things are going its only a matter of time until SatRad will be FM without AS MANY commercials.
You wait & see, since Mel got a vote of confidence, he will justify & have commercials on ALL of the music channels and the day traders of the stock will rejoice and "sheeple" will go along with whatever Mel does because the best part of sperm that ran down some woman's leg that birthed Howard Stern or O & A's fans will justify whatever Mel & his minions shit out.
These people are blind fools and don't deserve good radio and wouldn't know good radio if it bit them on their worthless asses.
There's nothing left to say but let the damn thing implode. I'd as soon see that as see what's going on now...........
I challenge ANYONE out there to justify why I should renew under the current situation..
Here's some of my resons:
Decreased Playlists,yakking DJ's,piss poor programming on the comedy channels,deteriorated fidelity,substitution of superior channels such as "The System,"Soul Street" & "XM COMEDY",GUTTING OF Classic Country channel(All these channels ratings were WAY above the Sirius cumulative ratings and the Sirius channels were retained even though they were nowhere as good).
Face it, Sirius is run by a bunch of commercial suits who don't give a damn about how a great medium such as SatRad should be organized and operated. It's not in their DNA
Uncle sam radio is sirius 113, xm 15. Walmart only sells the items they can get a deal on. I will always support a company that is as loyal to their customers as Crutchfield.
I understand and agree with your concerns about the merged product, my only problem, like many, you blame the opposite company for your dislike of the new service. As a longtime subscriber to both services, I can tell you sirius has been chopped just as well. In my opinion, the only thing that remains from either service, is the channel names. They probably sat in a meeting one day and flipped a coin on which name to use, sirius or xm. I can imagine it was not very important to them either way. I can understand the need for the big name broadcasters and the news programs, but I am very disapointed with the outcome of the music channels. It would seem to me that they have abandoned them. The attempts that they have made are pathetic and boring.
I have given this much thought, I think this merger was conceived in 2002/2003. If you look at the spending habits of both companies, it was like a race to see who would go broke first, xm had a stranglehold on oem programs and music lovers, sirius had the raunchy crowd and of course Stern fans. Stern fans will never cancel and the moderate music fan is satisfied. Figure in the fans of other exclusive programs, truckers and the "muzak" replacement platform they offer retail outlets, this company will never die. They could loose millions of subs and still be profitable with their new format. I have never trusted anyone in the radio industry, and both of these companies were and are ran by radio executives. I can really see the cbs(viacom) and abc(disney) influence in their(sirixm) programming. You get all these assholes in one room and you never know what you'll get. I recently heard that Casey Kasem was retiring, on the local nbc news affiliate, they said some channels would rebroadcast reruns of his program, on the local cbs channel, they mentioned the fact that sirixm is rebroadcasting his program. Around christmas, you can hear Stern ads on cbs and abc radio stations across america. The one thing most Stern and O&A followers fail to realize is the fact that all of these people(stern,o&a, greenstein, karmazin and many more) have been business associates for decades. If the fans of these programs havent figured out that they use each other to retain ad rev and listenership, they are all blind. These broadcasters make a living from creating their own drama. This is what sets this east coast bunch apart from the sea of broadcasters in this nation. ______________________________________________________________
I'm sure Ryan will comment on this by monday but I havent seen anyone else mention it, enjoy.
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/07/sirius_xms_mel.html
Mel receives 120 million options. 30 mil 2010, 30 mil 2011 and 60 mil 2012. SWEET! He is awesome.
Why do all of you complainers always talk about how you can't hear certain channels. I've had sirius for 4 years now and yeah when I'm under trees it clips out sometimes but other than that its perfect. I've had it hooked up through my sony car radio and now I have a stilleto in my car. I have it hooked up through my A/V port and the quality is perfect. Running it through your fm band sucks. That is why you get bad reception. Stop complaining everyone and cancel if you don't like the programming. Wow, what a bunch of babies.
As mentioned by some other posters, it had been mentioned by both Howard and O&A and by Mel himself that the financial situation at XM was much worse than anyone ever imagined. It's why all those people quit just before the merger intention was announced. After the merger Mel was panicking because he wasn't privy to those numbers before the merger.
XM was always the better product both through programming and the technology. Unfortunately this bankrupted XM so badly that they were more than happy to accept the merger. The boys who didn't agree quit the board.