Originally established by Western Union, the Westar satellite system was the first US domestic satellite system.  The system relayed data, voice, video, and fax transmissions to the continental U.S., Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Alaska, and the Virgin islands.  Western Union ended its role as a satellite service provider when it sold the Westar satellites to Hughes Communications Inc. in 1988.  At the time of the sale, only the Westar 3, 4, 5 and satellites were operational, as Westar 1 and 2 had already been retired from service (Westar 1 in April 1983), and Westar 6 had not achieved GEO following its deployment from STS-10 in February '84.

Westar 6 was retrieved by STS-51 A in February 1984 and returned to Earth for refurbishment.  Following its return, the vehicle was resold by the satellite's insurers to the Pan Am Pacific Satellite Corp., who in turn resold it to Asia Satellite, who renamed it AsiaSat 1.  The satellite was relaunched in April 1990 aboard a Long March rocket.

The Westar 6S satellite, procured by Western Union as a replacement for Westar 6, was still under development when Western Union was bought out by Hughes.  The vehicle was subsequently renamed Galaxy 6.

During the life of the Westar fleet, Western Union had the primary earth station for telemetry control, tracking control, and uplinking to the Westar satellites situated at Glenwood, New Jersey, with additional earth stations in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles.

To serve major cities, earth stations were physically located at Glenwood, NJ, Estill Forks, AL, Lake Geneva, WI, Cedar Hill, TX, and Sky Valley, CA.

Launch Facts

Name	Int'l Desig	Date	Site	Vehicle	Orbit	Mass (kg)
Westar 1	1974-022A	4/13/74	ESMC	Delta 2914	GEO	500
Westar 2	1974-075A	10/10/74	ESMC	Delta 2914	GEO	500
Westar 3	1979-072A	8/10/79	ESMC	Delta 2914	GEO	572
Westar 4	1982-014A	2/26/82	ESMC	Delta 3910	GEO	1072
Westar 5	1982-058A	6/9/82	ESMC	Delta 3910	GEO	1072
Westar 6	1984-011B	2/3/84	ESMC	STS 41B	LEO	1200

Notes:
Westar 4 handled TV and telephone.
Westar 5 handled Voice, TV coverage for Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands.
Westar 6 Deployed from STS 41B 2/4/84; failed to reach proper orbit; recovered by STS 51A.

For additional detailed information, click on the links shown below.

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/bss/factsheets/376/westar/westar.html

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/bss/factsheets/376/westar_456/westar456.html