Current:Home > NewsFCC fines Dish Network $150,000 for leaving retired satellite too low in space -Global Finance Compass
FCC fines Dish Network $150,000 for leaving retired satellite too low in space
View
Date:2025-04-24 23:14:26
Dish Network left one of its retired satellites floating too low in space and has now been slapped with a fine by federal regulators.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a $150,000 penalty against Dish on Monday, saying the Colorado company didn't properly dispose of its defunct direct broadcast satellite known as EchoStar-7. The Dish settlement marks the first fine ever levied against a company for space debris, FCC officials said.
"As satellite operations become more prevalent and the space economy accelerates, we must be certain that operators comply with their commitments," Loyaan Egal, the FCC's enforcement bureau chief, said in a statement. "This is a breakthrough settlement, making very clear the FCC has strong enforcement authority and capability to enforce its vitally important space debris rules."
Dish provides television programming to about 17 million customers across its three viewing platforms, according to the company. It employs roughly 14,000 people in the U.S. and generates more than $17 billion in revenue. The publicly traded company also owns Sling TV, which had about 2 million subscribers as of August, as well as video rental brand Blockbuster and cell phone provider Boost Mobile, which has about 7.7 million subscribers.
Space junk
The U.S. government typically disposes of spacecrafts in one of two ways, according to NASA.
One method is by letting a craft run out of fuel and fall back to Earth. During the fall, the craft breaks apart into smaller pieces, most of which burn up upon reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. Any remaining debris is targeted to land in a space debris junkyard in the Pacific Ocean called Point Nemo.
NASA's second method is to push an old spacecraft deeper into space, miles away from Earth's atmosphere, into what's known as junk orbit.
According to the FCC, Dish was supposed to graveyard their satellite into junk orbit.
Not enough fuel to reach proper disposal distance
Dish launched the EchoStar-7 in 2002. In paperwork it filed with the FCC, the company agreed it would retire the satellite in May 2022 and position it about 300 kilometers above its operational location. In February 2022, however, Dish said the satellite had run out of fuel and wouldn't have enough juice left to lift itself to the 300-kilometer graveyard point, FCC officials said. Dish's satellite ended up 122 kilometers short of where it should have been, the FCC said.
By not moving its satellite into the proper orbital location for disposal, Dish violated the Communications Act and the agreement it made with the federal government, FCC officials said.
"As the Enforcement Bureau recognizes in the settlement, the EchoStar-7 satellite was an older spacecraft (launched in 2002) that had been explicitly exempted from the FCC's rule requiring a minimum disposal orbit. Moreover, the Bureau made no specific findings that EchoStar-7 poses any orbital debris safety concerns. Dish has a long track record of safely flying a large satellite fleet and takes seriously its responsibilities as an FCC licensee," Dish told CBS MoneyWatch.
Space debris is rapidly growing problem as the final frontier becomes more accessible to businesses and entrepreneurs interested in satellite technology and exploration. There is already roughly 6,300 metric tons of debris floating in "near-Earth" orbit, the CEO of GHGsat, a greenhouse gas emissions monitoring company based in Canada, said at the World Economic Forum this year. Members across all sectors of the space industry met there in June to discuss the problem of orbital debris.
- In:
- Federal Communications Commission
Khristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering business, consumer and financial stories that range from economic inequality and housing issues to bankruptcies and the business of sports.
TwitterveryGood! (8)
Related
- B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
- 'Call Her Daddy' star Alex Cooper joins NBC's 2024 Paris Olympics coverage
- GOP suffers big setback in effort to make winning potentially critical Nebraska electoral vote more likely
- Kiss sells catalog, brand name and IP. Gene Simmons assures fans it is a ‘collaboration’
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- MS-13 gang member pleads guilty in killing of 4 young men on Long Island in 2017
- Mike Tyson says he's scared to death of upcoming Jake Paul fight
- Lawsuit asks judge to disqualify ballot measure that seeks to repeal Alaska’s ranked voting system
- The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
- Small Nuclear Reactors May Be Coming to Texas, Boosted by Interest From Gov. Abbott
Ranking
- Alex Murdaugh’s murder appeal cites biased clerk and prejudicial evidence
- Should you itemize or take a standard deduction on your tax return? Here’s what to know
- The Masked Singer's Lizard Revealed as 2000s R&B Icon
- Video shows Savannah Graziano shot by San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies
- Who are the most valuable sports franchises? Forbes releases new list of top 50 teams
- Everything you need to know about how to watch and live stream the 2024 Masters
- 3 dates for Disney stock investors to circle in April
- Women’s Final Four ticket on resale market selling for average of $2,300, twice as much as for men
Recommendation
$73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
NHTSA is over 5 months late in meeting deadline to strengthen car seats
All 10 skaters brawl off opening faceoff at start of Devils-Rangers game
WWE WrestleMania 40 details: Time, how to watch, match card and more
Gen. Mark Milley's security detail and security clearance revoked, Pentagon says
Score 80% off Peter Thomas Roth, Supergoop!, Fenty Beauty, Kiehl's, and More Daily Deals
University of Kentucky Dancer Kate Kaufling Dead at 20
The one thing you'll want to do is the only thing not to do while driving during solar eclipse