Official SE5 release date announced - September 12

[Ed Kolis]

Yay! I kinda suspected that you could flee combat in that manner but it's good to hear confirmation of that!
Presumably that distance is moddable, and perhaps it might even be a formula, so for instance if you start with Chemical Rockets going 20 km/s or something and eventually get Hyper-Quasar Drives going 100 km/s then the distance required to retreat could increase throughout the game as the average player's tech level advances? Or is it time-based - based on the speed of the fastest ship in the pursuing fleet? (e.g. "if the enemy ship can't reach your current position within 30 seconds the combat ends")

edit: clarified from "can't reach you" to "can't reach your current position"