As a small business owner, I watch where the political arena and atmosphere is, and where it may go with the elections coming up in November. Sentiment and pressure is starting to swing towards a more conservative thinking government and I believe this will affect QASP in a positive way. The CEO / CFO mentioned in your post probably are positioning themselves to take advantage of this.
Funding for QASP (in my mind) has been held up in part because lenders are skittish on taking any new risk and rightly so.
My prediction for QASP would be to see funding completed sometime between November 2, and January 1, 2010 (depending on election outcomes) with progress regarding Minseeker soon after.
It's my assertion that politics in the USA and abroad plays an integral part in the success of QASP. Barring any unexpected positive news, I think QASP will continue to generate rapier interest and the PPS will follow suit.
All IMHO.
Cheers