![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thewayneThis is a first. And since the Bloomberg article is potentially behind a paywall, I'll quote the Slashdot summary:
Todd Shields and Loren Grush reporting via Bloomberg:
Dish Network Corp. was fined $150,000 by US regulators for leaving a retired satellite parked in the wrong place in space, reflecting official concern over the growing amount of debris orbiting Earth and the potential for mishaps. The Federal Communications Commission called the action its first to enforce safeguards against orbital debris. "This is a breakthrough settlement, making very clear the FCC has strong enforcement authority and capability to enforce its vitally important space debris rules," Loyaan A. Egal, the agency's enforcement bureau chief, said in a statement.
Dish's EchoStar-7 satellite, which relayed pay-TV signals, ran short of fuel, and the company retired it at an altitude roughly 76 miles (122 kilometers) above its operational orbit. It was supposed to have been parked 186 miles above its operational orbit, the FCC said in an order (PDF). The company admitted it failed to park EchoStar-7 as authorized. It agreed to implement a compliance plan and pay a $150,000 civil penalty, the FCC said.
Now, this is fine and dandy for the FCC fining an American corporation, and I'm for it: we DO NOT need more space junk! But they don't have regulatory power over foreign corps. Will this encourage satellite corps to register companies in, say, the Bahamas to handle certain operations to avoid fines like this? I guess we'll see.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-02/dish-dealt-first-ever-space-debris-fine-for-misparking-satellite
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/10/03/000254/dish-dealt-first-ever-space-debris-fine-for-misparking-satellite
Todd Shields and Loren Grush reporting via Bloomberg:
Dish Network Corp. was fined $150,000 by US regulators for leaving a retired satellite parked in the wrong place in space, reflecting official concern over the growing amount of debris orbiting Earth and the potential for mishaps. The Federal Communications Commission called the action its first to enforce safeguards against orbital debris. "This is a breakthrough settlement, making very clear the FCC has strong enforcement authority and capability to enforce its vitally important space debris rules," Loyaan A. Egal, the agency's enforcement bureau chief, said in a statement.
Dish's EchoStar-7 satellite, which relayed pay-TV signals, ran short of fuel, and the company retired it at an altitude roughly 76 miles (122 kilometers) above its operational orbit. It was supposed to have been parked 186 miles above its operational orbit, the FCC said in an order (PDF). The company admitted it failed to park EchoStar-7 as authorized. It agreed to implement a compliance plan and pay a $150,000 civil penalty, the FCC said.
Now, this is fine and dandy for the FCC fining an American corporation, and I'm for it: we DO NOT need more space junk! But they don't have regulatory power over foreign corps. Will this encourage satellite corps to register companies in, say, the Bahamas to handle certain operations to avoid fines like this? I guess we'll see.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-02/dish-dealt-first-ever-space-debris-fine-for-misparking-satellite
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/23/10/03/000254/dish-dealt-first-ever-space-debris-fine-for-misparking-satellite
