It is a bit more complicated than that. The launch was done outside the US, by a foreign launch company.
It is a bit weird to me that the US would have jurisdiction over what a foreign rocket company outside the US, launches into space
It is a bit weird to me that the US would have jurisdiction over what a foreign rocket company outside the US, launches into space
Even otherwise, just because you can find a loophole in the system doesn't make it right - these approvals exist for a good purpose - there's real danger from orbital debris, so it would make sense to be a good earth citizen and ensure that everything is kosher before you launch.
The real solution that they should have done in this scenario would have been for swarm to simply sell their technology to an entirely foreign conpany that the US has no legal recourse against.
(Just like how I am sure that lots of foreign companies buy both parts and technology from US companies. Perhaps even entire satellites).
If Swarm Tech preferred to operate under another country's rules, they can move their business to that country (like you suggest).
That doesn't matter if it's an American company launching the satellite. Third paragraph:
> FCC [..] the U.S. government agency that regulates all satellite launches by American companies, whether they occur on U.S. soil or elsewhere.
Swarm Technologies is a US company. The FCC isn't regulating the launch, they're regulating the radio transmission. The company that launched the rocket did everything right, got paid, and isn't in trouble.
The company, though, is US and therefore falls under lots of US regulation potentially.