.If the Sirius launch should fail, other Proton rockets would likely be taken off the launch pad until an investigation would be completed. The launch of Zvezda -- the unit that will house crews to the ISS and has critical systems like orbit correction and life support -- has already been delayed for nearly two years.
But the Proton has had several successful launches since it exploded during the launch of a Russian communications satellite in October.
Sirius' future
Sirius Satellite Radio, based in New York City, plans to orbit another two satellites in September and October. The company says it will begin broadcasting 50 channels of music and 50 channels of news, talk and entertainment by the end of 2000.
The service will cost $9.95 per month, and requires a car and a special receiver. Sirius has made alliances with several carmakers -- Ford Motor Company, Daimler Chrysler, and BMW -- which will place Sirius receivers in their new models.
Consumers are dissatisfied with current audio choices in vehicles, says Terrence Sweeney, vice president of marketing for Sirius.
"On one hand you have recorded media, which is incredibly inconvenient to use," Sweeney says. "People listen to radio in the car even with CDs because it's a hassle to take the CDs in and out of the car. The problem with radio is there's as many as 22 minutes of commercials an hour, so radio has become more of a delivery vehicle for advertising than an entertainment medium or information medium."
Commercial free
Sirius music channels will have no commercials, Sweeney said, and talk and entertainment channels -- provided by third-parties like CNBC and the Sci Fi channel -- will have an average of six minutes of commercials per hour.
The Sirius satellite and the Russian service module, Zvezda, will be launched by different styles of Proton rockets. The Proton that will launch Zvezda has a
and a different configuration for placing the satellite into its final orbit. A failure of the Friday launch will not necessarily delay the Zvezda launch, set for July 12.But should there be a problem in the initial part of the launch -- that is, trouble with any of the first three stages, which bring the satellite into its initial orbit -- Zvezda would almost certainly be delayed until an investigation of the failure were completed.
The Proton is scheduled to launch one more spacecraft, a Russian military satellite, into orbit prior the launch of Zvezda. That launch is set for July 5.
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