ASU May 2023 - Banner

Sirius SXM-7 suffers malfunction in orbit

SiriusXM satellite; Credits: Maxar

Paris, 28 January 2021. – Looks serious: Sirius XM’s newest satellite SXM-7, launched last December, experienced malfunctions during in-orbit testing, the company said.

In a regulatory filing, Sirius XM said yesterday that “during in-orbit testing of SXM-7, some events occurred and caused failures of certain SXM-7 payload units”. “(A)n evaluation of SXM-7 is underway and the full extent of the damage to SXM-7 is not yet known”, the company added.

Sirius XM said that SXM-7 was insured for the launch and the first year of in-orbit operation with an aggregate insurance policy coverage of $225 million.

Sirius XM had launched SXM-7 on 13 December last year; in-orbit testing of the satellite began on 4 January. The satellite was built by Maxar Technologies and launched by SpaceX.

Sirius XM said it does not expect its satellite radio service to be impacted by the “adverse SXM-7 events”. Construction of the SXM-8 satellite is underway, it said, with the satellite expected to be launched later this year.

Check Also

Deimos, Phobos and the Moon are three targets of the space mining industry. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems/Texas A&M Univ.

#SpaceWatchGL Opinion: Space Resources Week 2023 – A Review – Part 1

The 2023 edition of Space Resources Week (SRW) took place on 19-21 April at Luxexpo The Box and online.