Sirius FM5

USA

Spacecraft nº:

US satellite nº:

Also called: RadioSat 5

Launch data:

Designation	35493 / 09034A
Launch date	30 Jun 2009 - 19:10 UT
Launch site	B, LC-200/39
Launch vehicle	Proton-M / Briz-M
Mission	Commercial: Communications
Geostationary orbit on Jul 08.70:
Perigee / Apogee	35744 x 35831 km
Eccentricity	2.85E-04
Inclination	0.09 deg
Period	1436.14 min

Spacecraft data:

Prime contractor	Space Systems/Loral
Platform	LS-1300
Operator	Sirius Satellite Radio
Mass at launch	5976 kg
Dry Mass	2900 kg
Basic shape	box
Dimension (m)
Solar array	two six-segment vanes of solar panels each vane in the shape of a "t"
Stabilization
DC power	20000 W
Design lifetime	15 yrs

Location:

Begin	Position	Remarks
Jul 2009	262-263° E
Oct 2009	96.00° W

Description:

For the next 15 years, Sirius FM5 will supplement and expand the company's radio service to customers across North America. Sirius FM5 will be positioned in geostationary orbit at 96 degrees west longitude, becoming the company's first satellite to be stationed there.

Mission details:

Sirius FM 5 (also called RadioSat 5) is a direct broadcast radio communications satellite, launched for Sirius Satellite Radio and manufactured by Space Systems/Loral using their LS-1300 platform.
The Proton reached a suborbital trajectory (unusually, the coopi.khrunichev.ru site did not give the parameters, which were probably around -750 x 150 km x 51.6 deg) and separated from Briz.

Five manoeuvres were used by the Briz-M fourth stage to place Sirius FM 5 into its separation orbit (MET is mission elapsed time):

Burn 1:  MET =     11m 15s  to     18m 25s      Parking orbit injection       51.5 deg,    179 -    179 km
Burn 2:  MET =  1h 07m 25s  to  1h 24m 51s      Intermediate orbit            50.3 deg,    270 -  5,000 km
Burn 3:  MET =  3h 28m 18s  to  3h 39m 15s      Depletion of Briz-M tank propellant
         MET =  3h 40m 05s                      Separation of Briz-M auxiliary propellant tank
Burn 4:  MET =  3h 41m 40s  to  3h 47m 48s      Transfer orbit                49.1 deg,    430 – 35,804 km
Burn 5:  MET =  8h 53m 10s  to  8h 59m 22s      Target orbit                  22.9 deg,  4,207 – 35,786 km
         MET =  9h 14m 00s                      Satellite separation from Briz-M

The Briz propellant tank was jettisoned into the third orbit of this sequence. Briz separated from Sirius FM5 at 04:23 UTC on Jul 1. By Jul 13 FM5 was drifting past 96 deg W in a 35773 x 35781 km x 0.1 deg orbit.
First in geostationary orbit.

Satellite tracking:

Real time satellite tracking

Ref.: #7(JR613), #84a, #225(09.06), #226, #228 - update: 12.12.13