American Satellite Television Company Fined $150,000 for Abandoning Space Waste: A Historic Sanction

This is the first time in history that a player in the space industry has been sanctioned for abandoning waste in space. The American satellite television company Dish Network was fined this week $150,000 (142,440 euros) for not having “not properly desorbed” a satellite called EchoStar-7, in orbit since 2002, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said. The operator is being reprimanded for not having respected the altitude agreed with the American telecommunications regulator to place its geostationary satellite which was reaching the end of its life, even though it was “likely to cause orbital debris problems”.

According to the FCC, the company committed in 2012 to raising the altitude of the satellite to 300 kilometers above its operational trajectory, reports the FCC. But with the drop in fuel levels, the company limited itself to bringing its satellite to an altitude of a little more than 120 kilometers above its trajectory. “As the use of satellites becomes more frequent and the space economy accelerates, we must ensure that operators respect their commitments”insisted the head of the FCC decision enforcement office, Loyaan A. Egal, calling it “breakthrough” this decision, in a communiqué.