In the USA, the company was fined $150 thousand for space debris

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined Dish Network $150,000 for failing to operate an old satellite far from other operating satellites. The BBC reported it.

The Dish EchoStar-7 satellite, launched in 2002, is in a geostationary orbit beginning at an altitude of 36,000 km above Earth. Dish was supposed to move the satellite, which ran out of fuel, about 300 km further than Earth, but it only moved 122 km.

The Dish satellite now poses a potential risk to other Earth-orbiting satellites at its current altitude, the FCC said.

Dish acknowledged its liability and agreed to a “compliance plan” with the FCC.

The $150,000 fine is reportedly a small fraction of Dish’s total revenue, which will be $16.7 billion in 2022. However, Megan Argo, a senior lecturer in astrophysics at the University of Central Lancashire, said the fine could still affect to other satellite operators.

“The more satellites in orbit, the greater the risk of collisions causing high-velocity debris. This can continue and potentially lead to collisions with other satellites, which will generate more debris and can cause a cascading reaction,” he explained.

According to NASA, there are more than 25,000 pieces of space debris in space that are longer than 10 cm.

Space debris is pieces of technology that are in orbit around Earth but are no longer in use and can collide with other satellites. Since the launch of the first satellite in 1957, more than 10,000 satellites have been launched into space, more than half of which are now defunct.

NASA plans to collect space debris using “garbage bags.”