The patent in question is dubious, and apparently SES thinks it's better for their insurance company to pay them off than to settle the suit with Boeing. And, the lunar fly-by ain't 'basic' orbital mechanics; it's akin to those Mercury slingshot gravity-well things. The good news: the patent expires in short order. The bad news: bad patents have as much weight as good ones. Imagine if they had copyrighted the algorithm! John Willkie -----Mensaje original----- De: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] En nombre de John Shutt Enviado el: Saturday, April 12, 2008 12:05 PM Para: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Asunto: [opendtv] Re: Boeing Patent Shuts Down AMC-14 Lunar Flyby Salvage Attempt So now basic Orbital Mechanics is patentable? Fine, Arthur C. Clarke's estate is due retroactive royalty payments for use of his "Clarke Belt." John ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.