Westar 1

Westar 1 was the first commercially-launched American geosynchronous communications satellite, launched by Western Union and NASA on April 13, 1974. It was built by Hughes for Western Union, using the HS-333 platform of spin-stabilized satellites. Westar 1 was the first of five Westar satellites launched by Western Union from 1974 to 1982. Westar 1, Westar 2, and Westar 3 were 12-transponder satellites while Westar 4 and Westar 5 were launched with 24 transponders. Western Union built a teleport in Cedar Hill, Texas, to uplink content to the Westar satellites. A sixth satellite, Westar 6 was launched in 1984 but failed to reach orbit and was retrieved and later relaunched in orbit of Asia as AsiaSat 1 in 1990.

Westar 1 was used by Western Union for their own internal communications, such as for sending telegrams and mailgrams to Western Union bureaus and U.S. post offices respectively. It also was utilized by outside customers such as PBS, NPR and the Mutual Broadcasting System, who used it for sending television and radio programming via satellite to their local affiliate stations throughout the 1970s and '80s.

Westar 1 was retired from service in April 1983. The 15-meter dishes used to communicate with it have been decommissioned, but they can still be visited today by contacting Westar Satellite Services [http://www.westarsat.com] .