SpaceX Launched Sirius SXM-9 Satellite

On December 5th, 2024, the Sirius XM-9 (SXM-9) satellite was successfully launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9, from  LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. This was the second SpaceX mission of the day, which deployed 20 Starlink satellites in the morning, 13 of which, dedicated to Direct to Celle services.

The rocket lifted off at  16:10 UTC. Two and a half minutes into the flight, the first stage successfully separated and safely landed on the Just Read The Instructions droneship. The second stage proceeded to deploy the SXM-9 Satellite to a Geostationary transfer orbit 34 minutes after liftoff.

Liftoff of SXM-9! pic.twitter.com/buCmhClcFN

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 5, 2024

This was the 20th launch for this booster (B1076), which previously launched the CRS-26 resupply mission, OneWeb 16, Türksat 6A, and various commercial and Starlink missions.

The SXM-9 satellite was designed by Maxar, a leading satellite constructor, leveraging its 1300-class satellite platform. The broadcasting capabilities of this new satellite, weighing over 7 tons, will help expand SiriusXM services across the United States and other regions of North America. Once it reaches its final orbit and completes testing, it will be siding the SXM-8 satellite, launched back in 2021, and the older Sirius and XM satellites, still in service today.

The origin of SiriusXM

The SiriusXM constellation rests its origins even before the current company was formed. It was in fact the Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio services that launched their own distinct satellites between 2000 and 2001, as demand for satellite broadcasting services kept growing. Maxar oversaw the construction of the Sirius satellites from the start, helping expand the network in 2009 and 2013. The XM Radio satellites were built by SSL, later acquired by Maxar in 2012.

SiriusXM was founded as a merger of the duo in 2008 and has been offering a combined streaming alternative benefiting from the companies’ expertise for both consumers and industry. With an initial focus on automotive industry radio services, the shift to a broader market with services for Marine and Aviation applications required an expansion of available broadband. This was met with the commissioning of SXM satellites, the first generation of new spacecraft since the two companies’ merging. Contracts were awarded to Maxar back in July of 2016.

An unplanned replacement

After the first satellite of the new batch, SXM-7 was successfully launched by a Falcon 9 on December 13th, 2020, the team overseeing the startup process and in-orbit encountered an array of anomalies, during the spacecraft’s journey to GEO, after days of nominal operation.

As the company reported, numerous payloads aboard the spacecraft bus had ceased to function or hadn’t started properly The issues with the SXM-7 satellite ultimately proved too debilitating, and SiriusXM was forced to declare the satellite as unservable in February 2021.

Since then, the spacecraft has orbited Earth regularly with ground contact still maintained today. SiriusXM’s losses, being unable to use SXM-7 profitably, were partially covered with insurance of $225 million. This is how the SXM-9 came to be, a replacement for an ill-fated mission, with a contract for SXM-10 soon following.

After a period of delays due to its companion’s failure, SXM-8 was successfully launched and has been operating normally since. Orders for more satellites, SXM-11 and 12, also commissioned to Maxar, were signed in November of 2022.

^{Cover image credits: SpaceX}