I recall a story a while back about a satellite that ended up in the wrong orbit after launch. The engineers knew how to correct it using various orbital maneuv

I recall a story a while back about a satellite that ended up in the wrong orbit after launch. The engineers knew how to correct it using various orbital maneuvers, but alas those maneuvers were patented and it was too expensive to license them. So the decision was made to splash the satellite and let the insurance companies pay out. At least that's my recollection... Edit : Here's a description of the issue, which is a bit different than my recollection http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC-14#Launch_anomaly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC-14#Launch_anomaly