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The US has jurisdiction over the satellite company which is American. The company doing the actual launch is irrelevant.

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.

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It's only a loophole if you believe that the United States should have full legal jurisdiction over space.

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).

US federal law contains fairly strict limits on the transfer of that technology to foreign companies.

It's not that the US should have full legal jurisdiction over space. It's that they're responsible for their own companies. This is by international agreement.

If Swarm Tech preferred to operate under another country's rules, they can move their business to that country (like you suggest).

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