SpaceX launches 15,000-pound SiriusXM satellite to orbit from Florida

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SpaceX launched a big SiriusXM radio satellite to orbit from Florida's Space Coast on Sunday night (June 28).

A Falcon 9 rocket topped with the 15,400-pound (7,000 kilograms) SXM-11 spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Sunday at 10:25 p.m. EDT (0225 GMT on June 29).

The Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth for a landing about 8.5 minutes after launch as planned, touching down in the Atlantic Ocean on the SpaceX drone ship "A Shortfall of Gravitas."

According to a SpaceX mission description, it was the 17th flight for this particular booster, which is designated B1085.

The Falcon 9's upper stage, meanwhile, continued carrying SXM-11 to an elliptical geosynchronous transfer orbit, where it was deployed on schedule, 34.5 minutes after liftoff.

Go deeper with Yahoo Scout

• How does the satellite reach geosynchronous transfer orbit?
• What are the main features of the SXM-11 satellite?
• What is the purpose of SiriusXM's satellite-radio fleet?

SXM-11 will now circularize its distant path around our planet and join SiriusXM's satellite-radio fleet, which currently consists of seven spacecraft.

Previous missions for Booster 1085

Crew 9 | Fram 2 | RRT-1 | Blue Ghost Mission 1 | SXM-10 | MTG-S1 | EchoStar XXV | 9 Starlink missions

SpaceX has now launched four of those spacecraft to date. The others were SXM-8 in June 2021, SXM-9 in December 2024 and SXM-10 in June 2025, all of which also rode to orbit on Falcon 9 rockets.

SpaceX has launched 76 Falcon 9 missions so far in 2026. The vast majority of those flights — nearly 80% of them — have been dedicated to building out the company's Starlink broadband megaconstellation in low Earth orbit.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 2:30 a.m. ET on June 28 with news of successful launch, rocket landing and satellite deployment.