In the early 2010s, a small Australian company tried to build a fleet of satellites before lenders, concerned about its chief executive officer’s flamboyant behaviour, pulled hundreds of millions of dollars of financing. The firm collapsed in 2015.More than a decade later, Singapore real estate tycoon Ching Chiat Kwong, who says he put US$100 million of his own money into NewSat, has not forgotten.The Supreme Court of Victoria begins hearing a case on Monday brought by the liquidators of the company against lenders Societe Generale, Credit Suisse – now owned by UBS Group – and Standard Chartered, as well as credit insurers Export-Import Bank of the United States, and Coface of France.Within the suit are allegations that the lenders failed to honour loan agreements, which prevented NewSat from paying contractors to build and launch a satellite, ultimately resulting in a loss of potential earnings.Just how much was lost is contentious.Ching, in an interview, has put the claim at around US$1 billion, based on an expert report, due to the lost opportunity to launch the original satellite and others planned for the future.