Not sure if this means there’s going to be future problems hearing Howard Stern ridicule his “Whack Pack,” or if the oboe and French Horn on the “Pops” Channel are going to sound a little less crisp, but Sirius XM said one of the satellite’s SpaceX launched into orbit for them suffered “failures” during testing.
The report came out in a securities filing, and the company did not disclose the cause of the malfunction. “During in-orbit testing of SXM-7, events occurred which have caused failures of certain SXM-7 payload units. An evaluation of SXM-7 is underway. The full extent of the damage to SXM-7 is not yet known,” Sirius XM said in the filing.
The satellite is designed to support the company’s digital satellite radio network, and this particular satellite would affect the coverage areas of the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.
Elon Musk has nothing to worry about, a Sirius spokesperson told CNBC that it wasn’t the fault of SpaceX, and he also said it was still undetermined if the satellite can be recovered. “SXM-7 was intended to supplement the existing fleet of SiriusXM satellites,” Sirius XM said in a statement. “Construction of our SXM-8 satellite is underway and that satellite is expected to be launched into a geostationary orbit later this year.”
If you’re wondering if this news affected the stock price of Sirius XM, of course it did. After climbing 24% in early trading Wednesday, it lost most of the gains and finished up about 7%. Maxar is the company that manufactured the satellite, and their stock fell 8% Wednesday.
Next up for Sirius XM? Contacting their insurance carrier and filing a claim.
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