Company shares climbed 6.75 percent to close at $50.38 after a leading satellite analyst said, in a report released Wednesday, that concerns over the injured bird were "unwarranted."

"Any delay regarding a spare satellite is only relevant if one of the two remaining satellites fail," Merrill Lynch analyst, Marc Nabi said.

The shares took a dive Tuesday, after analyst William Kidd of CE Uterberg Towbin in New York said, in a sharply worded report, that the lack of a spare satellite would cut the chances of a successful satellite launch from 93.9 percent to 72.3 percent.

Kidd, said that despite the damage, he maintained a strong buy rating on Sirius stock, with a 12-month price target of $100.

Nabi reiterated his long-term buy rating on Sirius stock saying that the next two satellite launches are likely to be successful because the "long-term success rate of the Proton launch vehicle is 90 percent."

Nabi pegged a 12-month price target for Sirius stock at $68.

Loral [LOR] will be responsible for any costs associated with repairs to the satellite, the company said.

Details on the damage will be released in the next month when an investigation is completed.

Sirius’ digital satellite radio system will broadcast 50 channels of commercial-free music -- from reggae to New Age, as well as 50 channels of national news, sports and entertainment programming for a monthly subscription fee of $9.95.

The company promises programming from the likes of CNN, USA Today and C-SPAN, as well as international stations from programmers such as the Hispanic Broadcasting Network.

Satellite radio’s target audience will be commuters who are confined to their cars, where radio listening (69 percent) still tops other formats, such as compact discs (9 percent) and cassette tapes (15 percent).

There will be no advertising on the music channels, but there will be some on the talk channels, though significantly less than there now is on conventional radio.

Along with the monthly service cost of $9.95, customers will pay about $200 for a basic satellite radio, which can be rolled into the financing of a new car. The cost rises if a subscriber chooses a more sophisticated satellite radio, such as one that stores names of songs and artists from earlier broadcasts to be replayed later.

After the launch of the Sirius 2 bird on September 5 and Sirius 3 in October, the company is expected to begin AM/FM service by year's end.