A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to carry the SiriusXM SXM-11 satellite into geostationary transfer orbit. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Sunday carrying a multi-ton SiriusXM broadcast satellite that will replace two aging satellites in geostationary Earth orbit.
Liftoff from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station occurred at 10:25 p.m. Eastern Time (02:25 UTC), which corresponds to the opening of a four-hour window. After leaving the launch pad, the rocket flew along an eastern trajectory.
The 45th Weather Squadron forecasts an 80 percent chance of favorable weather when the launch window opens, increasing to 90 percent over time. Meteorologists are watching for interference from cumulus and anvil clouds.
“The flow aloft will be weak and variable, facilitating daily storm movements that will depend on sea breezes and outflows. This erratic nature of storm movement is more evident in today’s model runs, suggesting a higher risk of storms lingering closer to the coast later in the night,” meteorologists wrote at the launch. “However, residual storms and clouds should gradually decrease as night progresses during both the main and backup runs.”
SpaceX launched the mission using a Falcon 9 rocket with tail number B1085. This was its 17th flight, having previously launched NASA’s Crew-9, RRT-1 for the US Space Force, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1, Fram2, SiriusXM’s SXM-10, the MTG-S1 weather satellite for Europe, EchoStar XXV and nine Starlink missions.
Just over 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1085 landed on the drone ship Lack of Gravity in the Atlantic Ocean. It was his 158th successful landing associated with the now-retired Just Read the Instructions vessel, which is used for Starship operations.
SiriusXM’s SXM-11 satellite is shown inside a clean room. Image: SiriusXM
Constellation update
The SXM-11 satellite, weighing about 15,000 pounds (7.5 tons), was launched from the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket a little more than half an hour after launch.
It was manufactured by Lanteris Space Systems, a subsidiary of Texas-based Intuitive Machines. The company, formerly Maxar Space Systems, was acquired by Intuitive Machines in January 2026 for approximately $800 million.
The SXM-11 and SXM-12 satellites were built to replace the SiriusXM XM-5 and Sirius FM-5 satellites launched in 2010 and 2009, respectively.
“After years of planning, design, testing and collaboration, SXM-11 will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and begin its journey into orbit,” SiriusXM wrote on its LinkedIn page. “As the most powerful satellite in the SiriusXM fleet, SXM-11 will help improve signal reception, expand coverage in Alaska and support the delivery of audio entertainment and information services in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.”
The 230-foot (70.1 m) tall satellite is based on the IM-1300 satellite bus. The length of the spacecraft with solar panels extended is 106 feet (32.3 m).
SiriusXM said about 60 percent of the 7.5-ton satellite’s mass comes from fuel on board. The last of these satellites, SXM-10, launched in June 2025, is estimated to remain in service until 2040, according to SiriusXM’s financial report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
SiriusXM’s SXM-11 satellite is shown inside a clean room. Image: SiriusXM