I am pretty sure that Swarm knew that they were breaking the rules. They submitted an FCC license, were notified that the license was rejected, and decided to l

I am pretty sure that Swarm knew that they were breaking the rules. They submitted an FCC license, were notified that the license was rejected, and decided to launch anyways. I think part of the reason that they were able to still get licenses approved is that they agreed to more oversight from the FCC. Also, after launching the satellites Swarm was able to show the FCC that they were able to track the satellites, which was the original reason that FCC denied the license. So it seems like the FCC had to say "we were wrong, but you still broke the law so here is a fine and then we will continue on with life."