anyone know or think they know if the new 990 will come with satelliete radio?

I hope not, unless it can be an optional "upgrade".
There are many ideas for add-ons. I have some, too, but they would drive up the price unnecessarily IMHO. The 990 is one of the best buys in "AV-land".

I really think modular is best. If someone wants one, get one and add it to the system.

I suspect that we'd only see XM or Sirius if Outlaw did something similar to the 990 and took a really good quality platform that already had satellite radio and modified it to their purposes - which is of course a possibility in light of the confusion and general turmoil presently surrounding HDMI v1.3. A "from scratch" design is less likely to include XM or Sirius for the very reason that nfaguys points to: there are endless ideas for additional features, but to hit the "sweet spot" on price and performance many of the more secondary features (satellite or HD tuners being two examples) will end up on the chopping block.

I wouldn't really want satellite radio in it, either. First, the added cost, particularly for the XM/Sirius subscribers who already have satellite equipment or who don't want satellite radio. Second, with the proposed XM/Sirius merger, IMHO there is some uncertainty over future equipment specs.

you think prices would be the same 990 $1099 and 970 $699? are they coming out with new 970 at the same time also?

We have no information about Outlaw's next generation of processors - no information about feature sets, or about release dates, or about pricing.