LEO Insider covers a sector where money and engineering are inseparable, and where a great deal of the published data is estimated, projected or supplied by parties with an interest in the answer. This policy sets out how we handle that — what we source, what we label, what we disclose, and what we do when we get it wrong.
It applies to every article on this site, without exception.
Sourcing and Evidence
We work from primary documents wherever a primary document exists. In order of preference:
- Regulatory filings — FCC and ITU applications, licence conditions, deployment milestones, SEC filings for public companies.
- Company disclosures — audited financial statements, earnings calls, investor presentations, official technical specifications.
- Named analyst research — attributed to the firm, with the publication date, and identified as an estimate rather than a measurement.
- Credible reporting — established trade and financial press, cited and linked, used where no primary source is public.
Every figure we publish carries a time period and a source type. We do not publish numbers we cannot attribute. Where a widely-repeated figure has no traceable origin — and in this sector there are several — we say so rather than repeat it.
Estimates, projections and forecasts
Market sizing for LEO is contested. Credible firms publish figures that differ by a factor of two or more, because they draw the boundaries of the market differently — some count only connectivity revenue, others fold in Earth observation, launch, ground equipment or defence contracts.
We therefore present market size as a range, state what is being counted, and name the firms whose estimates define the range. We do not average incompatible numbers into a single figure that looks authoritative and means nothing. A projection is always labelled as a projection.
Company-supplied figures
Subscriber counts, coverage claims, throughput figures and constellation totals frequently come from the operator itself and are not independently audited. Where a number is company-supplied and unverified, we attribute it to the company rather than stating it as established fact.
How We Use AI
We use AI tools in producing this publication, and we would rather tell you that plainly than let you discover it.
AI is used for research assistance, drafting and editing. It is not used as a source. A statement does not become true because a language model produced it, and every factual claim, figure and date is checked against the primary documents described above before publication. Editorial judgement — what to cover, what the evidence supports, what conclusion to draw — is human.
We take responsibility for everything published under our name, however it was drafted. If an error reaches you, the failure is ours, not the tool’s.
Corrections
We correct errors rather than quietly deleting them.
- Factual errors — a wrong number, date, name or attribution — are fixed as soon as they are confirmed, and the article carries a dated correction note explaining what changed.
- Substantive corrections that change the conclusion of an article are noted at the top of the piece, not buried at the bottom.
- Routine updates — a newer filing, a revised subscriber figure — refresh the data-currency line on the article without a correction note, because nothing was wrong when it was written.
- Typographical fixes that do not affect meaning are made silently.
To request a correction, email [email protected] with the article, the specific claim you are disputing, and a source. We do not require you to be the subject of the article to ask for a correction, and we do not treat a correction request as a complaint.
Independence and Conflicts of Interest
LEO Insider is funded by advertising and sponsorship. That relationship is transactional and it stops at the advertisement.
- Advertisers and sponsors have no influence on what we cover or what we conclude.
- No advertiser, sponsor or subject sees an article before it is published, and none has a right of review or approval.
- Sponsored content is labelled as sponsored, on the page, where you cannot miss it. If it is not labelled, nobody paid for it.
- We hold no positions in the companies we cover, and accept no payment in equity, options or tokens.
- Where an affiliate link is used, it is disclosed. Affiliate arrangements never determine a recommendation or a ranking.
If we ever have a material interest in a company we are writing about, we will disclose it in the article itself.
Analysis Is Not Advice
We write about capital markets, valuations and company prospects. None of it is investment advice, and none of it is a recommendation to buy or sell any security. We do not know your circumstances. Satellite operators are capital-intensive businesses with long payback periods and a genuine risk of failure; treat any forward-looking statement here — ours or anyone’s — accordingly.
Reader Recourse
If you believe an article is wrong, unfair, or missing context that changes its meaning, write to [email protected]. We read every message. A well-sourced objection will change the article; we would rather be corrected in an inbox than be wrong in public.
More about the publication and who it is for: About LEO Insider.