Sirius FM-5, also known as Radiosat 5, is an American

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Ear ...

which is operated by

Sirius XM Radio Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sa ...

. It was constructed by Space Systems Loral, based on the

LS-1300 The SSL 1300, previously the LS-1300 and the FS-1300, is a satellite bus produced by Maxar Technologies. Total broadcast power ranges from 5 to 25 kW, and the platform can accommodate from 12 to 150 transponders. The SSL 1300 is a modular platf ...

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

, and carries a single transponder designed to transmit in the NATO E, F and I bands (IEEE S and X bands). It is currently being used to provide

satellite radio Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a '' broadcasting-satellite service''. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than ...

broadcasting to North America. Sirius FM-5 was launched by a

Proton-M The Proton-M, (Протон-М) GRAU index 8K82M or , is an expendable Russian heavy-lift launch vehicle derived from the Soviet-developed Proton. It is built by Khrunichev, and launched from sites 81 and 200 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome i ...

/ Briz-M rocket flying from Site 200/39 at the

Baikonur Cosmodrome ''Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy'' rus, Космодром Байконур''Kosmodrom Baykonur'' , image = Baikonur Cosmodrome Soyuz launch pad.jpg , caption = The Baikonur Cosmodrome's " Gagarin's Start" Soyu ...

. The launch was conducted by

International Launch Services International Launch Services, Inc. (ILS) is a joint venture with exclusive rights to the worldwide sale of commercial Angara and Proton rocket launch services. Proton launches take place at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan while Angara is l ...

, and occurred at 19:10 GMT on 30 June 2009. Around nine hours after launch, the satellite separated from the carrier rocket into a

geosynchronous transfer orbit A geosynchronous transfer orbit or geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) is a type of geocentric orbit. Satellites that are destined for geosynchronous (GSO) or geostationary orbit (GEO) are (almost) always put into a GTO as an intermediate step ...

. It will raise itself into geostationary orbit by means of its onboard R-4D apogee motor. It also carries four SPT-100 engines for manoeuvring. It is the first Sirius Radio satellite to be placed in geostationary orbit; the three previous Sirius satellites operate in

tundra orbit A Tundra orbit (russian: орбита «Тундра») is a highly elliptical geosynchronous orbit with a high inclination (approximately 63.4°), an orbital period of one sidereal day, and a typical eccentricity between 0.2 and 0.3. A satell ...

s (and the fourth satellite, Sirius FM-4, was a ground spare that was never launched into space). Originally placed at 96° west, it was moved to 86.2° west alongside XM-5.https://www.lyngsat.com/Sirius-FM-5.html Sirius FM-5 at Lyngsat.com

References

* * Spacecraft launched in 2009 Sirius XM {{US-spacecraft-stub

See also

References