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IPFS News Link • Space Travel and Exploration

How Satellite Startup Swarm Returned to Space After an Illicit Launch

• http://fortune.com

Swarm Technologies is back on track this week after the small satellite startup finally erased the one big blemish on its reputation.

The controversy arose back in January when Swarm took the Silicon Valley adage made famous by Uber ("it's easier to ask for forgiveness than to get permission") a little too far. Swarm became the first company in history to launch satellites into space without authorization from any government regulator. In fact, Swarm's application had been rejected by the Federal Communications Commission weeks before the launch.

On Thursday, the FCC announced a settlement with Swarm over the unauthorized launch, unauthorized communications with the four illicit orbiters, and a few other missteps. Swarm agreed to pay a $900,000 penalty, add stricter compliance procedures, and submit pre-launch reports to the agency for the next three years.


AzureStandard