this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2023
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I don't really get why they got fined when they did the best they could. The satellite was launched 20 years before the law was in effect. It's not like they knew that in 20 years they would need x amount of fuel (though to be fair, it probably would have been about 150k in extra cost back then)
Do you think they're the only ones who launched satellites 20 years ago? They absolutely knew how much fuel they needed and how to properly deorbit without leaving hunks of metal orbiting the earth forever, as evidenced by literally every single other 20+ year old government and satellite operator that is not being fined right now.
Hard agree. If my dumbass can do the math for this in Kerbal Space Program on the back of an envelope, these fucks sure as hell can with entire aerospace engineering teams.
Agreed about them doing nothing against the law in the past.
But against your last anecdote: 150k now is worth more than having to maybe pay 150k later