Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Property and Equipment

v3.10.0.1
Property and Equipment
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2018
Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]  
Property and Equipment
Property and Equipment
Property and equipment, net, consists of the following:
 
September 30, 2018
 
December 31, 2017
Satellite system
$
1,586,794

 
$
1,586,794

Terrestrial repeater network
125,124

 
123,254

Leasehold improvements
59,482

 
57,635

Broadcast studio equipment
106,478

 
96,582

Capitalized software and hardware
737,271

 
639,516

Satellite telemetry, tracking and control facilities
75,032

 
69,147

Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other
100,882

 
96,965

Land
38,411

 
38,411

Building
62,461

 
61,824

Construction in progress
419,641

 
301,153

Total property and equipment
3,311,576

 
3,071,281

Accumulated depreciation and amortization
(1,813,279
)
 
(1,608,515
)
Property and equipment, net
$
1,498,297

 
$
1,462,766


Construction in progress consists of the following:
 
September 30, 2018
 
December 31, 2017
Satellite system
$
276,627

 
$
183,243

Terrestrial repeater network
4,037

 
2,515

Capitalized software and hardware
116,692

 
94,456

Other
22,285

 
20,939

Construction in progress
$
419,641

 
$
301,153


Depreciation and amortization expense on property and equipment was $69,772 and $71,947 for the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and $204,883 and $198,544 for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively.  We retired property and equipment of $77,040 during the nine months ended September 30, 2017. There were no retirements of property and equipment during the nine months ended September 30, 2018.
We capitalize a portion of the interest on funds borrowed to finance the construction and launch of our satellites. Capitalized interest is recorded as part of the asset’s cost and depreciated over the satellite’s useful life. Capitalized interest costs were $3,097 and $1,324 for the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and $8,252 and $3,047 for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, which related to the construction of our SXM-7 and SXM-8 satellites.
Satellites
As of September 30, 2018, we owned a fleet of five satellites.  The chart below provides certain information on our satellites as of September 30, 2018:
Satellite Description
 
Year Delivered
 
Estimated End of
Depreciable Life
SIRIUS FM-5
 
2009
 
2024
SIRIUS FM-6
 
2013
 
2028
XM-3
 
2005
 
2020
XM-4
 
2006
 
2021
XM-5
 
2010
 
2025

Each satellite requires an FCC license and prior to the expiration of each license, we are required to apply for a renewal of the FCC satellite licenses.  The renewal and extension of our licenses is reasonably certain at minimal cost, which is expensed as incurred. We submitted our renewal application for the XM-5 license during the third quarter.
The following table outlines the years in which each of our satellite licenses expires:
FCC satellite licenses
 
Expiration year
SIRIUS FM-5
 
2025
SIRIUS FM-6
 
2022
XM-3
 
2021
XM-4
 
2022
XM-5
 
2018