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Sirius SXM-8

Falcon 9 Block 5

SpaceX

Launch Status
Success

Weather Forecast During Launch


According to weather officials, there’s a 70% chance of favorable weather conditions at the time of the launch.

Mission


SXM-8

  • Type: Communications
  • Orbit: Geostationary Transfer Orbit
  • Launch Cost: $52,000,000

SXM-8 is a large high power broadcasting satellite for SiriusXM’s digital audio radio service (DARS).

Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) got in July 2016 the contract to build the two satellites based on their SSL-1300 bus – SXM-7 and SXM-8. Satellite design operates in the S-band spectrum. Each satellite will generate more than 20-kW of power and will have a large unfurlable antenna reflector, which enables broadcast to radios without the need for large dish-type antennas on the ground.

SXM-8 is meant to replace the XM-4 satellite. SXM-7 was meant to replace the XM-3, but suffered a failure in orbit 6 weeks after its launch.

SXM-8

Location


Space Launch Complex 40

Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Space Launch Complex 40 has witnessed the launch of 266 rockets, including 266 orbital launch attempts, while Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA, has been the site for 980 rocket launches.

Space Launch Complex 40

Rocket


SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.

Falcon 9 Block 5

Landing


Core B1061

Booster B1061 last launched 10/07/2024 and has seen 22 successful launches and landings. Booster which launched Crew-1, Crew-2 and IXPE. Expended for the launch of Hera.

Just Read the Instructions – JRTI

Third (Marmac 303) ASDS barge, Just Read the Instructions (JRTI) is currently used to recover Falcon 9 and Heavy boosters in the Altantic Ocean.

Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship – ASDS

An autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) is an ocean-going vessel derived from a deck barge, outfitted with station-keeping engines and a large landing platform. Construction of such ships was commissioned by aerospace company SpaceX to allow for recovery of rocket first-stages at sea for high-velocity missions which do not carry enough fuel to return to the launch site after lofting spacecraft onto an orbital trajectory.

B1061

Agency


SpaceX

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX
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