Following the delivery, on May 22nd, of the Proton M booster rocket designated for the SIRIUS FM-5 launch, the aforementioned spacecraft was delivered to the Baikonur Cosmodrome on May 26th.

After passing through customs, the spacecraft was transferred to building 92A-50 for testing and integration. The satellite, built by Space Systems/Loral on the 1300 bus for SIRIUS XM Radio, is scheduled to be the fifth Proton launch of 2009 and the third ILS mission of the year. SIRIUS FM-5 will be inserted into a geostationary orbit and will supplement the existing fleet of SIRIUS satellites.