Things are beginning to look up for Sirius XM (SIRI) Satellite Radio, after a couple of years of listening to doubtful critics.

In early 2009, the stock which was trading as high as $51 a share in late 2000 had fallen all the way down to $0.10 a share. The company looked as though it might vanish and satellite radio looked as though it was a failure. Now a year and a half later, the tables have turned. Sirius XM Radio Inc. which was formed when Sirius & XM merged is now back on track, and starting to make a lot of progress.

On Wednesday, the company announce that it is planning on offering buyers close to $550 million in aggregate senior notes. These unsecured notes would be due in 2018, and the proceeds from them would be used to help the company repurchase their older 11.25 percent notes which come due in 2013.

Sirius XM announced that in the third quarter of 2010 they gained a net of 334,000 subscribers, which brings the total net increase in subscribers to 1 million for the year. Last year in the third quarter, Sirius XM only say a net increase of 102,000. The total subscribers of the satellite radio product now stands at 19.8 million. They are predicting this number to hit 20.1 million by January 2011.

So much for satellite radio being a failure. 19.8 million people are happily using the service.