SiriusXM orders SXM-9 satellite
August 5, 2021
By Chris Forrester
SiriusXM has ordered a new satellite, SXM-9, from Maxar Technologies.
The SXM-9 satellite will be based on Maxar’s 1300-class platform and built at the company’s manufacturing facility in Palo Alto, California. It is expected that SXM-9 will launch in 2024.
Maxar has been building satellites for SiriusXM since 2000, which includes the first-generation Sirius satellites launched in 2000 and the second-generation Sirius satellites launched in 2009 and 2013. Most recently, SXM-8 launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on June 6th 2021, and completed in-orbit testing in July 2021.
SiriusXM recently lost a satellite (SXM-7) which failed in orbit and has been the subject of an insurance claim. SXM-7 launched in December 2020 and failed during in-orbit testing in January 2021.