The U.S. government is cracking down on potentially hazardous trash disposal — in space.
For the first time, the Federal Communications Commission has issued a penalty for space junk — what it called a “breakthrough settlement” that officials hope will showcase the gravity of a worsening situation: orbital debris.
The Dish Network, a U.S. satellite television company, was ordered to pay a fine of $150,000 after an investigation by the agency found that it disposed of one of its satellites at an orbit “well below the elevation required by the terms of its license.”
Disposing equipment at a lower altitude potentially poses a threat, the FCC said.
Space junk, the debris whizzing around at high speed in orbit, is made up of human-made objects that no longer serve any useful purpose, according to NASA.
Such junk includes derelict spacecraft, rocket parts and flecks of paint that, while tiny, still have the potential to destroy a space shuttle window.
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