The Washington Post reports:

WorldSpace, a bankrupt satellite radio company, is running  low on funds that it is preparing to send its satellites to a premature death.

[…]

The procedure would involve steering the WorldSpace satellites into a higher orbit, out of the way of others, said Tobias Nassif, vice president of satellite operations and engineering at Intelsat, which would assist WorldSpace. The satellites’ propellant would be dumped and their batteries would be disconnected, leaving them to a frozen death more than 22,000 miles above the Earth. If they were left unattended in the orbital band used by geostationary satellites, they could drift into others, creating debris that could cause more collisions in a cascade of damage, said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org.

[…]

WorldSpace had previously announced that it planned to stop broadcasting to India, one of its prime markets, on December 31, according to a statement on its website. The company said it would not be able to provide refunds to subscribers, although they could file claims with the bankruptcy court.