By Imran Rahman-Jones | BBC
The US government has issued its first ever fine to a company for leaving space junk orbiting the Earth.
The Federal Communications Commission fined Dish Network $150,000 (£125,000) for failing to move an old satellite far enough away from others in use.
The company admitted liability over its EchoStar-7 satellite and agreed to a “compliance plan” with the FCC.
Space junk is made up bits of tech that are in orbit around the Earth but are no longer in use, and risk collisions.
Officially called space debris, it includes things like old satellites and parts of spacecraft.
The FCC said that Dish’s satellite posed a potential risk to other satellites orbiting the Earth at its current altitude.
Dish’s EchoStar-7 – which was first launched in 2002 – was in geostationary orbit, which starts at 22,000 miles (36,000km) above the Earth’s surface.
“Space debris has always been a problem and it’s only going to get worse. Great to see the FCC enforce its rules.” -Shruti Gurudanti, Rose Law Group partner and director of the firm’s space law department
