North American authorities have imposed a fine – the first of its kind – on a satellite TV operator for leaving waste in space, the North American telecommunications regulator announced.
The operator Dish was fined $150,000 (142,440 euros) for failing to “properly deorbit” a satellite called EchoStar-7, which has been orbiting the Earth since 2002, according to a statement from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which was released on Tuesday. honestly.
“This represents an innovation in the Commission’s regulation of space debris as it has developed its efforts in the satellite space,” the FCC added.
According to the FCC, Dish did not respect the altitude agreed with the Commission for the deployment of its geostationary satellite, which was nearing the end of its life, which “could cause orbital debris issues.”
Dish committed in 2012 to increase the satellite’s altitude to 186 miles (300 km) above its operational trajectory, the FCC explained.
However, the drop in fuel levels limited the company to raising the satellite to an altitude of just over 120 km above its trajectory.
“As the use of satellites becomes more common and the space economy accelerates, we must ensure operators meet their obligations,” said the director of the FCC’s Office of Enforcement.
The official classified this decision as “a step forward,” showing the FCC “very clearly” its authority and “its ability to enforce its essential rules on space debris.”
The agreement reached by the FCC and the company includes an admission of liability on the part of the company and an agreement to follow a compliance plan. [das regras]in addition to paying a $150,000 fine.”
At stake are half a million pieces of debris the size of a marble and a hundred million pieces measuring about a millimeter, according to a specialized UN agency that warns that this debris is potentially dangerous to spacecraft.
In December 2022, a Soyuz MS-22 capsule docked with the International Space Station (ISS) was damaged by the impact of a small meteorite.
According to Beijing, a Chinese satellite was hit in early 2022 by debris from a Russian satellite destroyed in an “extremely dangerous” incident last year.
Of the 14,000 satellites in orbit, about 35% were launched in the last three years, and another 100,000 are expected to be launched in the next decade, according to the UN.
Source: DN
