LightSquared Satellite Disabled By Last Week's Solar Storm

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."

Re:Interesting

[tomhath]

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.

Insurance

[Kozar_The_Malignant]

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.

Re:A terrible idea that should have died long ago

[artor3]

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"?