I remember seeing a presentation on the news that showed S1 in the background and a pitch using 65K high objects for military purposes, they(the military) expected it be operationanl by 2009-2010. this was on the news a couple of years ago, looks like nothing changed accept hope and perception. the following statement is why i wonder what Jones was doing while he ran it. seems pieces parts and ideas were what was going on with him. "Helium retention is also a problem for the Stratellite, and Sanswire is looking for new materials to help prevent the small particles from escaping."
Phineas without knowing what puts the date that far out, you sure have a lot of information. The estimation is probably as good as could be rendered from the point we are at now, or it could be a bit of disinformation, who knows without more data. We just have to wait for the whole picture to be made.