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US issues first ever fine for space junk to Dish Network
(www.bbc.com)
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this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
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.
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 more things we have in orbit, the more risk there is of collisions, causing high-speed debris," said Dr Megan Argo, senior lecturer in astrophysics at the University of Central Lancashire.
"Even a paint chip… coming in the wrong direction at orbital speed, which is 17,500 miles an hour [could] hit an astronaut doing a spacewalk.
The original article contains 402 words, the summary contains 136 words. Saved 66%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
So they got fined 150k for not bringing enough fuel. How much would the extra fuel (and larger fuel tank) cost? Probably more than 150k..
As per usual, the fine becomes simply the cost of doing business
It's the equivalent of a $0.52 fine if you earn $60k a year.