Monday, May 21, 2007

XM #3 Suffers In Orbit Difficulty

May 21, 2007
Tyler Savery

After many rumors and a lot of speculation, it appears that one of XM Satellite radio's newer satellites (XM#3) is the one that had difficulty.

The good news is that it appears that software and a repositioning of the satellite will be able to correct the issue.

Wedbush Excerpt:

Wedbush confirmed with XMSR that its XM-3 satellite suffered an in-orbit difficulty earlier today. Firm learned that in order to fix this issue, XMSR had to perform a software upgrade on the satellite, which required the satellite to be re-oriented to be corrected. That process also reportedly required the satellite to stop broadcasting. XMSR has yet to issue a press release or post some sort of update on its website to its subscribers. Based on firm's experience, it is not common for broadcast satellites to stop broadcasting in order to be "fixed". Keep in mind, it is not uncommon for satellites to report yearly availability rates of 99.999%. Thus, this type of service disruption is a natural concern. Obviously, once the satellite resumes broadcasting and XMSR's service is back on track, their concerns would be resolved.

Position - Long XM