The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued its first space debris enforcement fine, officials have revealed. 

The agency has fined DISH $150,000 (£124,000), stating that the company relocated its direct broadcast service EchoStar-7 satellite at the end-of-mission to a disposal orbit “well below the elevation required by the terms of its license”. The move could pose “orbital debris concerns”, according to the regulator. 

“This marks a first in space debris enforcement by the Commission, which has stepped up its satellite policy efforts, including establishing the Space Bureau and implementing its Space Innovation Agenda,” the FCC said in a statement.

The FCC added that DISH admitted liability and will adhere to a compliance plan. However, the satellite TV has issued a statement clarifying that the satellite at issue was “an older spacecraft (launched in 2022) that had been explicitly exempted from the FCC’s rule requiring a minimum disposal...