US government issues first-ever space debris penalty to Dish Network

‘As the space economy accelerates, we must be certain that operators comply with their commitments,’ said enforcement bureau chief Loyaan A Egal. Photograph: Electro Optic Systems/AFP/Getty Images

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued its first fine to a company that violated its anti-space debris rule, the commission announced on Monday.

Dish Network has to pay $150,000 to the commission over its failure to deorbit its EchoStar-7 satellite, which has been in space for more than two decades. Instead of properly deorbiting the satellite, Dish sent it into a “disposal orbit” at an altitude low enough to pose an orbital debris risk.