(ProsperNews.net) – The federal government has issued its first-ever fine for leaving “space junk” in the Earth’s orbit. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) penalized the Dish Network for failing to remove one of its old satellites from space. The FCC said the used dish threatened other satellites and fined the company $150,000. Dish Network admitted liability and said it will work with the FCC to prevent a recurrence.
Echo-Star 7, the satellite in question, was launched by Dish Network in 2002 and sat around 22,000 miles above the Earth’s surface. At the end of its life in 2022, the company was instructed to move it 186 miles further out to prevent it from contributing to debris, but it ran out of fuel after 76 miles and has sat stationary ever since.
The FCC said the landmark fine was a “breakthrough settlement, making very clear the FCC has strong enforcement authority and capability to enforce its vitally important space debris rules.”
However, the fine is unlikely to make a significant dent in Dish’s finances, as it turned over more than $16 billion in revenue last year. The company makes its money through TV subscriptions and has over 9 million customers. It also serves almost 8 million live radio subscribers.
Space debris, or space junk as it is informally known, has been an issue since the space age got underway in the 1950s. Thousands of satellites and rockets have since been launched, and, as can be expected, the potential for collision exceeds with every launch.
Britain’s Natural History Museum documents that around 2,000 active satellites are orbiting Earth at present, and approximately 3,000 “dead” ones. These are floating around among 34,000 separate pieces of “junk” larger than 10 centimeters in size, and 128 million pieces larger than 1 millimeter.
Despite the numbers, collisions are extremely rare and the last one involved a Chinese satellite in 2021 that broke apart after being hit by a Russian rocket.
Copyright 2023, ProsperNews.net
