satellite slots, had forgotten to claim the spots. Intelsat and foreign governments (such as the United States) thought the claim to be utterly ridiculous, and others concluded it was a money-making scheme. Both were particularly displeased as it uprooted a "gentlemen's agreement" whereby core countries controlled the orbital slots, while Tongasat would create a commercial market for those slots. According to Jonathon Ezor, "Tonga could have become a key player in the world telecommunications community" with its claim. After Nilson asked for six slots instead of sixteen, the ITU acquiesced in March 1991. Tongasat acquired a seventh slot soon after and eventually two more for a total of nine. Tonga's nine slots included slots at 14.0 degrees East, 70.0 degrees East, 83.3 degrees East, 130.0 degrees East, 134.0 degrees East, 138,0 degrees East, 142.5 degrees East, 170.75 degrees East, and 257.0 degrees East. In October 1991, Unicom Satellite Corporation licensed two orbital slots from Tongasat, but failed to obtain the necessary funds to start operations. In April 1992, however, Rimsat Ltd. licensed slots and succeeded in launching three satellites. Tongasat also licensed one position to APT Satellite Company and negotiated with Informkosmos for another slot. Informkosmos, in partnership with Rimsat, launched a Russian satellite renamed into Tonga's 134.0 degrees East slot in August 1993. On 18 November that year, Rimsat One was launched, and on 20 May 1994 Rimsat Two was launched to the 142.5 degree East position. Afterwards, Rimsat filed for bankruptcy in 1995. The Russian government then decided to confiscate the two satellites left and ignored American court rulings and pleas from the American government to return them to Rimsat. By 1997, Tonga had five satellites in space, which soon dwindled to two. In February 1994, Nilson was fired from Tongasat after an audit uncovered his ownership of Rimsat shares, a clear conflict of interest. In 1996, Tongasat ended its agreement with Rimsat and re-organized internally, hiring an all-Tongan staff. The United States, China, Asianet, and PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara all claimed or occupied slots from Tongasat against its wishes. PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara and the Indonesian government had a long-lived dispute with Tongasat; after multiple summits, they came to a conclusion to share the slot. On 15 April 2002 Tongasat started its own telecommunications industry when it obtained the satellite, previously named Parallax and before that Comstar 4d (launched in 1981), that was moved to Tonga's own