The US authorities have imposed a fine – the first of its kind – on a television satellite operator for leaving debris in space, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The DISH company has been fined $150,000 (€142,440) for its “failure to properly deorbit” a satellite named EchoStar-7, which has been in orbit since 2002, the US telecoms regulator said in a statement.
“This marks a first in space debris enforcement by the Commission, which has stepped up its satellite policy efforts,” the FCC added.
According to the FCC, DISH had not respected its commitment to bring the satellite, at the end of its mission, to an altitude of 300 km above its operational geostationary arc. The satellite's altitude, lower than agreed, “was likely to pose orbital debris problems,” the FCC said.
DISH had committed in 2012 to raising the satellite’s altitude to 300 km above its operational trajectory, the FCC explained. But with fuel levels dropping, the company had limited itself to bringing its satellite back to an altitude of just over 120 km above its trajectory.
“As satellite operations become more prevalent and the space economy accelerates, we must be certain that operators comply with their commitments,” FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Loyaan A. Egal said.
“This is a breakthrough settlement, making very clear the FCC has strong enforcement authority and capability to enforce its vitally important space debris rules," he added.
The settlement reached by the FCC and DISH “includes an admission of liability from the company and an agreement to adhere to a compliance plan and pay a penalty of $150,000 fine.”
DISH did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
There are an estimated half a million bits of debris the size of a marble in orbit and a hundred million measuring about a millimetre, according to the UN . This debris is potentially dangerous for spacecraft.
In December 2022, a Soyuz MS-22 capsule docked at the International Space Station (ISS) was damaged by the impact of a small meteorite.
A Chinese satellite was grazed in early 2022 by debris from a Russian satellite destroyed the previous year in what Beijing called an “extremely dangerous” incident.
Of the 14,000 satellites in orbit, around 35%were launched in the last three years and another 100,000 are expected in the next decade, again according to the UN.
