The reason Swarm got in trouble is that they were launching smaller than cubesats, had applied for a launch license, and had it denied because of the inability

The reason Swarm got in trouble is that they were launching smaller than cubesats, had applied for a launch license, and had it denied because of the inability to track the payloads. To keep their launch schedule, they (as a US company still) launched on an Indian based rocket to intentionally avoid the denial. This is strictly illegal under both international law (as having been denied a launch by their governing country), and US law (for being denied launch by a relevant governing agency). Space launches is definitely a small industry still, but it's fairly cut throat and I would only describe it as 'tight knit' in that generally every launch provider has interacted with every other launch provider. They will absolutely attempt to undercut each other and ignore certain paperwork as long as the customer has given their word that it has/will be approved.