The first fine for space debris in US history – 10/04/2023 – Science

For the first time, the US government has fined a company for leaving space junk in orbit around the Earth.

The US Government Communications Commission (FCC) fined Dish Network US$150,000 (or R$750,000) for failing to move an old satellite away from other satellites in use.

The company admitted liability for its EchoStar-7 satellite and agreed to a “compliance plan” with the FCC.

Space debris is made up of pieces of devices that are in orbit around the Earth, but are no longer in use and pose a risk of collisions.

The FCC said Dish’s satellite posed a potential risk to other satellites orbiting the Earth.

Dish’s EchoStar-7 — first launched in 2002 — was in geostationary orbit, at a height of 36,000 km above the Earth’s surface.

Dish was supposed to move the satellite 300 km further from Earth, but at the end of its life in 2022, it only moved it 122 km after running out of fuel.

“As satellite operations become more frequent and the space economy accelerates, we need to make sure operators meet their commitments,” said FCC Enforcement Chief Loyaan Egal.

“This is a groundbreaking agreement that makes it abundantly clear that the FCC has strong enforcement authority and the ability to enforce its vitally important rules on space debris.”

The US$150,000 (R$750,000) fine represents a small proportion of Dish’s overall revenue, which was US$16.7 billion (R$86 billion) in 2022.

However, the fine could still have an impact on other satellite operators, according to Megan Argo, professor of astrophysics at the University of Central Lancashire.

“The fact that they have used their regulatory powers for the first time will certainly make the rest of the industry take notice,” Argo said.

“Because using it once means they’ll probably use it again.”

“The more things we have in orbit, the greater the risk of collisions, generating high-speed debris. They can potentially hit other satellites, creating even more debris and potentially generating a cascade reaction,” she added.

It is estimated that more than 10,000 satellites have been launched into space since the first one in 1957, with more than half of them currently unused.

According to NASA, there are more than 25 thousand space debris more than 10 cm long.

NASA chief Bill Nelson told the BBC in July that space debris was a “huge problem”, prompting the International Space Station to be moved out of the way of passing debris.

“Even a paint chip coming in the wrong direction at orbital speed, which is 28,000 km/h, [poderia] hitting an astronaut during a spacewalk. This could be fatal,” he said.

The text was originally published here.