It still frustrates me that Swarm was basically given a free pass after their illegal satellite deployments[1]. They broke both the law and good cultural norms around space tech in a meaningful way, barely got a slap on the wrist, and then ended up being acquired for quite a good amount of money. The FCC commissioner even stated that "The size of the penalty imposed is probably not significant enough to deter future behavior."

Move fast and break things shouldn't have been acceptable for an organization operating in this area, and that Swarm had no meaningful repercussions for doing so should be a black mark on the org and the executive running it for a long time. I'm certainly hoping others don't use their model as a blueprint.

[1] https://spacenews.com/fcc-fines-swarm-900000-for-unauthorize...

Without competition SpaceX would be the one setting the price of the acquisition, which could be lower than even the 20 million seed funding!