Satellite Startup Swarm Is Back Online After Defying U.S. Officials

In January, Swarm Technologies Inc. placed four, tiny satellites on a rocket owned by the Indian government, sent them to space and started transmitting data to earth. What made this an unprecedented feat was that Swarm did all of it despite objections by U.S. regulators. As far as anyone can remember, this was the first example of an American company placing a satellite into orbit without Uncle Sam’s blessing, and the results were as expected. The Federal Communications Commission forced Swarm to disable the satellites and warned that the company’s long-term plans to build a type of space internet were in peril.

It turns out, though, that time and good lawyers can heal some wounds. Last Friday, Swarm received permission from the FCC to reactivate its satellites. The reprieve is temporary and bars commercial use. But Swarm now hopes it can get 100 satellites, called SpaceBees, into orbit by the end of next year and build the cheapest space-based data network of all time. “We’re sort of making a 1996 version of the internet,” says Sara Spangelo, co-founder and chief executive officer of Swarm. “But it will be everywhere, and anyone on the planet can afford it.”