FCC fines Dish Network

[GlobalNorth]

The FCC went after Dish Network for failing to de-orbit a satellite.

The FCC just dished out their first space junk fine

Although $150,000 may be a drop in the bucket for the major television provider, it sends a message to orbital polluters.

www.popsci.com

 

[mmckenna]

The FCC went after Dish Network for failing to de-orbit a satellite.

The FCC just dished out their first space junk fine

Although $150,000 may be a drop in the bucket for the major television provider, it sends a message to orbital polluters.

www.popsci.com

I bet Dish Network wastes more than $150K/day on idling service vans.

FCC needs to increase their fines.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

So they ran it out of fuel by extending its operational lifetime. FCC should force them to deorbit two of their other satellites to reduce the potential space debris.

 

[GlobalNorth]

FCC needs to increase their fines.

Based on the amount of junk mail I get from Dish Network, their declining subscriber base, and their other issues; they better start saving their capital for FCC fines.

 

[BinaryMode]

Well, as a Ting Mobile user I kinda like what Dish has done in that regard. But come on? FCC regulating space junk? Tell that to China et al... I mean, it was China that blew up one of their own birds and sent s&^* all over the place knocking out a Russian bird in the process.

I actually had no idea FCC had jurisdiction over space communications. Terrestrial makes sense of course.

How exactly do you pull a bird back into orbit that far out in geo orbit anyway?

In February 2022, however, Dish Network revealed the satellite did not have enough remaining propellant to adhere to the original agreement’s altitude. In the end, the EchoStar-7 satellite only retired about 122 km above its geostationary arc—far lower than planned.

Looks like the FCC is trying to turn hay into gold as far as I can tell...

 

[prcguy]

How exactly do you pull a bird back into orbit that far out in geo orbit anyway?

Fuel is what determines the lifespan of a spacecraft and a modern one will launch with about 15yrs of station keeping fuel. When a satellite goes inclined due to low fuel they are supposed to keep an adequate amount to kick it out of its slot and into a graveyard orbit that will pave the way for another satellite to live in that spot. Apparently Dish failed to save enough fuel to properly retire their satellite.

 

[BinaryMode]

Other than fuel, wouldn't battery life and other components factor in to a Sat's life span? Like an RTG?

 

[prcguy]

Other than fuel, wouldn't battery life and other components factor in to an Sat's life span? Like an RTG?

Everything is a factor in spacecraft life but fuel is the major one. Most satellites that are end of life still work fine and their batteries are good but they have run out of station keeping fuel. There is a newer type of propulsion for spacecraft called XIPS that uses small quantities of Xeon gas and power from the solar panels but it’s been failure prone crippling several satellites prematurely. A current satellite will have about 15yrs of station keeping fuel at launch and most will reach that lifespan.

The station keeping fuel gets used about every two weeks to park the satellite back in its center of box in space and to keep its antennas pointed to a specific point on earth. Gravity, solar wind, etc, will drag on the spacecraft and alter its orbit slightly with a higher orbit slowing it down in relation to earth and a lower speeding it up. Sometimes when a satellite gets low on fuel and all ground stations have the capability to track it they will save fuel and allow it to go into an inclined orbit to extend its useful life.

 

[BinaryMode]

That's interesting about having to re-correct orbit every two weeks. Didn't know that.

What if they made a small rocket that can dock with a satellite and refuel it?

I wonder how the SiriusXM Sats are holding out? I don't think SiriusXM is making a lot of money to begin with... Its stock price today was $4.59 and on a year long trend going down.