Samara used the cash to have France's Alcatel build four satellites for him and contracted with other Europeans to develop a chip set that could read encrypted radio beams.

FORBES: Bird in the hand

Samara used the cash to get France's Alcatel (nyse: ALA - news - people ) to build him four satellites and other Europeans to develop a chip set that could read encrypted radio beams.

FORBES: Bird in the Hand

At the moment, the telescopes it relies on are powerful enough only to detect beams of radio waves pointed directly at Earth.

ECONOMIST: Radio telescopes