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Lift-off: ILS Proton successfully launches Sirius FM 6

Radio-broadcast satellite to provide 20 kilowatts of power to payload over 15-year servicern

International Launch Services (ILS) successfully carried and placed the SSL-built Sirius FM 6 satellite into orbit on an ILS Proton Breeze M vehicle. The launch took place at the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on October 26.

The first three stages of the Proton used standard ascent to position the Breeze M upper stage and the Sirius FM-6 satellite into a sub-orbital trajectory. The radio-broadcast satellite then fired its thrusters to manoeuvre into its final position at 116.15 degrees West.

The Sirius FM-6 bird is owned by Sirius XM Radio of New York. It was designed to provide 20 kilowatts of power to the payload over the satellite’s 15-year service life and features a 9-metre unfurlable reflector antenna built by Harris Corporation.