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LightSquared Satellite Disabled By Last Week's Solar Storm

Posted by timothy on from the it's-in-the-cloud dept.

volts writes "Troubled LightSquared's primary Skyterra 1 satellite has been out of service since the solar storm on March 7. The company says it is 'working through the rebuild of the satellite tapping into the resources that were involved in the original program.' This development follows a stream of bad news including layoffs, default on payments, the resignation of CEO Sanjiv Ahuja and FCC rejection of a scheme to repurpose satellite frequencies for cellular data due to interference with GPS. Another kick in the teeth as company struggles to avoid bankruptcy."

14 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. This is a cover-up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They'll use this as an excuse for bankruptcy/liquidation/etc. "Don't blame us, blame the Sun."

    1. Re:This is a cover-up by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Funny

      I was more thinking who they're going to sue over this. Perhaps God, with the God Apollo and the FCC named as co-defendants.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  2. Interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Interesting, LS doesn't happen to have an insurance policy on that baby that would payoff if it failed do they?

    1. Re:Interesting by tomhath · · Score: 4, Informative

      This is much closer to real life than you probably think. After Hurricane Katrina, people found they didn't have flood insurance. So they sued, claiming their house was blown apart by the wind before it washed away.

    2. Re:Interesting by Psion · · Score: 4, Interesting

      And back in the great earthquake of '06, folks set fire to their quake-smashed homes because their insurance covered fire but not quakes. As a result, out-of-control fires caused more damage to San Francisco than the earthquake itself.

  3. English, motherfucker! Do you speak it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    From TFS:

    Another kick in the teeth as company needs struggles to avoid bankruptcy.

    Yep. as company needs struggles.

    Now I've been around for a while, so I'm familiar with /.'s keyboard-bashing monkey approach to editing, and the general crappy quality of summaries. But it seems to me the last couple weeks have had a high incidence, even by /. standards, of these nonsense phrases in summaries. And it's getting old.

    1. Re:English, motherfucker! Do you speak it? by Americano · · Score: 3, Funny

      I heard what you are said. But in a seriously note, I think you needs struggles to avoid blowing you're top.

      Interestingly, it seemed they will edited the summary to finishing with, "Another kick in the teeth as company struggles to avoid bankruptcy."

      Maybe this been a new approach to editing, and they just randomly insert and words until something vaguely intelligible on the screen?

      (Editors: please consider this post a writing sample for purposes of my employment as a member of the crack /. editing team.)

  4. Re:Maybe the universe is telling them something.. by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Funny

    There are nails in the coffin, and then there's the coffin being doused in gasoline, lit on fire, pissed on, dropped from 30,000 feet with lit sticks of dynamite inside.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  5. Re:Idea's don't die by riverat1 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Actually I think if they had just stayed with satellite level signals instead of trying to get their high powered ground source signals approved they probably would have been ok with the FCC.

  6. Insurance by Kozar_The_Malignant · · Score: 4, Informative

    According to Space News, "SkyTerra 1 is insured for about $268 million, a policy for which LightSquared paid a $37.5 million premium." You can't talk about actual coverage for a loss without having the policy in front of you. Solar flares are a pretty obvious risk for which you would want coverage, although the obvious big risk is total loss on launch.

    --
    Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
  7. A terrible idea that should have died long ago by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Interesting

    As soon as it was found LightSquared interfered with GPS (which was a while ago) all permission should have been axed and the company disbanded.

    Instead, because of heavy donations to the Democratic party they got the blessing of the FCC to proceed despite actual physical interference to others caused by the product, making it inevitable the company could never go to market.

    Some partisans will inevitably come down on me simply because of the origin of that news. But you can't deny the connections and how obvious it was the FCC should NEVER have allowed certification not matter who was involved.

    Political connections should NEVER override something as important as allowing experiments that interfere with devices as important as GPS!

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:A terrible idea that should have died long ago by artor3 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      LightSquared made a $30,400 donation to the Democrats in Sept, 2010. One month later, in October, they made an identical $30,400 donation to the Republicans.

      And yet strangely, people like SuperKendall only ever seem to mention the donation to the Democrats. I wonder why that is?

      By the way, why do you feel that the FCC shouldn't have even let them test out their idea? Sure, it was probably doomed to failure, but I don't see the harm in letting them test it out with their own money.

    2. Re:A terrible idea that should have died long ago by artor3 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Got a source to back that up? I can't find any sources to support your claim, even on the most conservatives sites.

      Wikipedia seems to agree with me:

      The Federal Election Commission has no record of Phil Falcone, a registered Republican, nor LightSquared Chairman and CEO Sanjiv Ahuja of having ever contributed to President Obama’s political campaigns.[39] However, since 2007, Philip Falcone has donated $50,500 to the Democratic Senatorial campaign Committee (and $85,500 to Republicans). Both Falcone's wife and LightSquared CEO Ahuja donated $30,400 to the DSCC (Ahuja gave the same amount to Republicans).

      So tell me, where did you get this stuff about "several hundred thousand dollars in other donations"?

  8. Re:Idea's don't die by ngg · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There's no 'probably' about it. LS bought spectrum that was specifically earmarked for use in satellite to ground communications (which was why they got such a bargain on it in the first place: no other potential bidder could think of a profitable way to use it). Their problems only began when LS decided that they wanted to use this inexpensive spectrum for ground to ground communications, instead of using a more expensive band like everybody else. They attempted to exploit a loop-hole that the FCC created when it allowed "supplemental" ground stations for sat broadcasts (like for inside tunnels) by launching a sat for an ostensibly satellite-based broadband business (while actually transferring the bulk of the data from ground-based transmitters).