US issues first ever fine for space junk

[Kyng]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66993647

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.

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Well, given the threat that space junk poses to satellites, I think it's about time we started doing this. And as more and more of this rubbish accumulates up there, we're probably going end up dishing out many of these fines!

Though, hopefully, it'll be an added incentive for the skies to be cleaned up .

[Pyrite]

Good! We need to incentivse cleanup of space junk as much as possible, otherwise we risk being unable to leave our outer atmosphere in the future if it builds up too much. The most dangerous bits are the smallest parts of debris which are difficult to detect and collect. It's imperative that we start by getting rid of the larger bits of junk like old satellites and spacecraft.

[Kyng]

Good! We need to incentivse cleanup of space junk as much as possible, otherwise we risk being unable to leave our outer atmosphere in the future if it builds up too much. The most dangerous bits are the smallest parts of debris which are difficult to detect and collect. It's imperative that we start by getting rid of the larger bits of junk like old satellites and spacecraft.

Yes, definitely - before those larger bits turn into a mass of smaller bits .

Anyone who's ever played Asteroids will know that several small asteroids are a lot more dangerous than one big one. Real-life space junk is the same principle - just more dangerous and more expensive!

[ZandraJoi]

Finally! I am curious how much is actually up there. If you see what we have here on Earth, one doesn't have much hope with in space!

[Kyng]

Indeed.

Now, here's a thought on what to do about the space junk: why not send the Wombles up there to deal with it?