Idk much about this company but I'm assuming $150,000 is nothing to them.
But I suppose it's the precedent this sets, not the fine itself
this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2023
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Now they know it's worth just 150k to litter all they want.
Not necessarily how they're viewing it.
Once if was free, now it's $150,000+ with the possibility of that increasing anytime
Don't tell ole muskrat.
SpaceX satellites are in a different place so the rules and limits are different.
Dish Network's satellite is in geostationary orbit. This is a narrow 2 dimensional circular ban of space approximately 20,000 miles away from the Earth. Earth sits in the middle of the circle. This is very valuable space because ~~how objects there have very little gravitational interference (rather gravity is canceled out by other source of gravity).~~ ...the satellite appears to stay in a specific spot in the sky without moving. The reason Dish Network was asked to move its old dead satellite was to make room for a new one to sit in the same place. Again, very limited space there. So when Dish Network didn't move all the way out, it means its much harder (impossible) to use that space for someone else's satellite. What's worse is that it will take from 40 to 100 years for the Dish Network Satellite to fall out of orbit on its own. So unless a vehicle goes out and gets it to move it, that slot is unavailable for decades!
SpaceX satellites, like thousands of others, are in LEO (low earth orbit). Instead of 20,000 miles away its about 200 miles from the surface of the Earth. Additionally, unlike geostationary, there's no narrow band. its all the way around the Earth's sphere. LEO is considered "self cleaning". Any dead satellites in LEO will re-enter and burn up in 3 to 5 years. As in, do nothing and LEO satellites go away relatively soon.
EDIT: @Nighed@sffa.community correctly pointed out I mixed in a Lagrange point concept, which doesn't apply here.
I think you are getting confused between geostationary orbit and legrange points.
Geostationary orbit is just the narrow band where you can have a stable orbit at the same speed as the earth's rotation (so it stays in the same place in the sky) no other gravitational bodies involved.
you're absolutely right. I've edited my post to remove the Lagrange point logic and correct the value of geostationary orbits. Thank you :)
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His fall downward and burn up in the atmosphere due to the low location. His actually leave no space junk in orbit.
Without any context, anyone who sends things to space can easily pay $150k. For context though, they are worth $3.35 billion as of September. $150k is probably less than a days electric bill for their offices.
sofa cushion money.
$150k fine to a company with ~ $17 billion in annual revenue is less than ninety cents for someone that earns $100k a year.
The $150,000 fine represents a tiny proportion of Dish's overall revenue, which was $16.7bn in 2022.
It’d probably cost $10M-$20M to launch a falcon 9 up to that altitude alone, not to mention the tech and equipment to change its trajectory without also causing more space debris.
Fines exist only to hurt the poor.
For the rich/big businesses they are just a rounding error.
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Should the fine not be the cost of a mission to move the satellite? It's within our technology now.
That would make sense - the fine should be enough to pay for the satellite's disposal.
Over and over we've seen companies not be held responsible for the cleanup of their projects. A lot of parallels to the fossil fuel industry, where they often abandon their wells with little recourse for the people left to clean up the pieces.
That would negatively impact future campaign contributions.
This is the real answer. This is both doing something and nothing at the same time. Pandering to both sides.
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As someone who owns an appartment complex I want to fine them for roof junk.
The last apartment I was in had dozens of satellite dishes on the back of every building for a dozen apartments, they didn't even bother to check if one was hooked up before screwing a new one into the wall
I found that dish will screw giant lag bolts right through the shingles of your roof, right next to 3 other abandoned dishes. They are no longer allowed in our complex. I finally identified all the abandoned ones (alost all of them now as they are phased out), removed them and patched all the shingles. Filled an entire dump trailer. It was ridiculous. Had to repair ceilings from the leaks. Cable company is almost as bad. They leave all the old wires up, run new ones right over top. Putting nails through all the siding. But at least they aren't destroying the roof.
Alright everyone, let's get him
You own an apartment complex?
He can't respond because he's too busy painting over all the light fixtures and power outlets
This is true actually. But I had to work late because I accidentally got some on the wall.
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As someone who is an actual living human: give your shit away.
As an also actual living human, I rent strictly to seniors, our rent is $4-500 cheaper than anything else comparable in town because they live on fixed income and I am a paramedic/firefighter that works 3 jobs to survive. I am not one of the scumbags (I don't think?) I don't make much of a profit because I refuse to raise the rent on a bunch of widowed old ladies living on fixed incomes and I put my resources back into the units to maintain or improve their living conditions. Yeah, it increases the property value. So I'm not going to pretend it's pure charity, it is a business. But I am not gouging my tenants while I very much can during the housing shortage like every other landlord in my small town.
If I gave it away it would just be bought up by the same monopoly that owns every other complex in my town. He has offered me 3 times what I paid and I refused to sell. Not because I wouldn't LOVE the money, but because the tenants that are pretty much family, that have watched my kids grow up, that have gone to my wedding, would all immediately be out on their ass.
Cool, now lets issue one to Dillweed over at X for Starlink. There was literally a petition put out by the astronomers at ground-based observatories begging him not to do it. What had already been put up was making issues for ground-based telescopes, the full constellation will likely make the multimillion-dollar optical telescopes overpriced tourist attractions.
https://www.astronomy.com/science/starlink-satellites-disrupt-cosmic-studies/
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Starlink is losing a crazy number of satellites. Are they burning up or becoming junk?
Starlink sattelites operate in a low orbit that decays over time. They all fall back to earth eventually.
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I heard they're designed to burn up in the atmosphere. Probably not an eco-friendly move, but it beats taking a satellite to the head.
Probably not an eco-friendly move
Fine powder of metals strewn over a few km², there's more coming from outer space via micrometeorites and dust. And that bit CO² in the Stratosphere...
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A crime with a fine is a crime only for the poor, and definitely not for the guy who probably got a million dollar note commissioned just so he could wipe his ass with it
like, you're not wrong...but also who is poor and getting a space junk fine????
"[This could] go on and potentially hit other satellites, causing yet more debris and potentially cause a cascade reaction."
"Just like the..."
"Sigh, yes like the Sandra Bullock movie."
what about other countries?
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.
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