Westar was the name for the fleet of geosynchronous communications satellites operating in the C-band which were launched by Western Union from 1974 to 1984. There were 7 Westar satellites in all, 5 of them launched and operating under the Westar name. A geosynchronous orbit is a geocentric orbit that has the same orbital period as the sidereal rotation period of the Earth. ... U.S. military MILSTAR communications satellite A communications satellite (sometimes abbreviated to comsat) is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purposes of telecommunications. ... C band (compromise band) is a portion of electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies ranging from 4 to 6 GHz. ... Western Union is an American financial services and communications company. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Background

Westar 1 (launched on April 13, 1974) has the distinction of being the USA's first commercially-launched geosynchronous communications satellite, following North America's first geosynchronous communications satellite, Canada's Anik 1 in 1973. Westar 1 was the first commercially-launched American geosynchronous communications satellite, launched by Western Union and NASA on April 13, 1974. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... Anik 1 was a Canadian geosynchronous communications satellite that was launched in 1972 by a Delta rocket. ... 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ...

Westar 2 was launched shortly afterward on October 10, 1974, and Westar 3 was launched on August 10, 1979. Westars 1, 2 & 3 were built by Hughes using the HS-333 platform of spin-scan stabilized satellites. They only had 12 transponders onboard, as opposed to later C-band communications satellites having 24. 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... Hughes logo adopted after his death Hughes developed the AIM-120 AMRAAM, one of the worlds most advanced air-to-air missiles Hughes Aircraft Company was a major defense/aerospace company founded by Howard Hughes. ... In telecommunication, the term transponder (sometimes abbreviated to XPDR or TPDR) has the following meanings: An automatic device that receives, amplifies, and retransmits a signal on a different frequency. ... C band (compromise band) is a portion of electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies ranging from 4 to 6 GHz. ... U.S. military MILSTAR communications satellite A communications satellite (sometimes abbreviated to comsat) is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purposes of telecommunications using radio at microwave frequencies. ...

The later Westar 4 (launched on February 26, 1982) & Westar 5 (launched on June 9, 1982) satellites, were based off the Hughes HS-376 platforms, and had 24 transponders available, as opposed to the 12 on Westars 1, 2, & 3. 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In telecommunication, the term transponder (sometimes abbreviated to XPDR or TPDR) has the following meanings: An automatic device that receives, amplifies, and retransmits a signal on a different frequency. ...

Westar 6, also a HS-376 based satellite, was launched on February 3, 1984, and to be put into service afterward, but the perigee kick motor (also known as the Payload Assist Module, or PAM, also known as the PAM-D) on the satellite during its approach to geosynchronous orbit failed, placing it at an improper & inoperable low earth orbit. It was retrieved on November 16, 1984, by the STS-19 (also known as STS-51A) mission of NASA's Space Shuttle, where it was brought back to earth and refurbished. It was then resold to China, and relaunched on April 7, 1990, as Asiasat 1. The space shuttle mission to retrieve Westar 6, as well as the Palapa B2 satellite which shared the launch payload with Westar 6, was funded by the insurance companies that insured the launch of those two satellites. 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... PAM stands for Payload Assist Module, a small rocket engine used for launching orbital satellites or other spacecraft (also referred to as a PAM-D) Pluggable authentication modules Point accepted mutation (a type of similarity matrix) Policy Analysis Market, an aborted DARPA program Portland Art Museum Pulse-amplitude modulation This... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... STS 51-A was the fourteenth flight of a Space Shuttle and the second flight of Discovery. ... NASA Logo Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-09-01, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition, 1981 (NASA). ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition, 1981 (NASA). ... Palapa was a series of Indonesian communication satellites. ... In cargo transport, payload is the valuable contents of the vehicle. ... Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of potential financial loss. ...

An on-ground spare satellite to Westar 6, Westar 6S, was in development by Western Union and Hughes when Western Union decided to divest themselves of their telecommunications-based assets starting in the early 1980's after suffering heavy financial losses. This resulted in Western Union selling the Westar satellite fleet & operations to Hughes in 1988. Telecommunication is the extension of communication over a distance. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Hughes then finished development of Westar 6S, and re-named it Galaxy 6. Modifications were made to it, and Galaxy 6 was launched on October 12, 1990. 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Hughes later launched the Galaxy 4 and 5 satellites to replace Westar 4 and 5 respectively, after the latter satellites reached the end of their useful life.

Uplink sites for Westar

During the life of the Westar fleet, Western Union operated these dedicated uplink sites (now defunct, unless noted) for Westar:

• The Yacolt earth station at Yacolt, Washington (now a satellite uplink site for MCI)
• The Sky Valley earth station, located near Cordelia, California (north of San Francisco)
• The Steele Valley earth station, near Perris, California (southeast of Los Angeles)
• The Kipapa earth station, near Waipio Acres, Hawaii
• The Cedar Hill earth station, at Cedar Hill, Texas (near Dallas)
• The Estill Fork earth station, at Estill Fork, Alabama
• The Lake Geneva earth station, at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (northwest of Chicago)
• and the Glenwood earth station at Glenwood, New Jersey. Glenwood was the head earth station for the Westar fleet, providing telemetry, control, tracking & uplink services.

Yacolt is a town located in Clark County, Washington. ... MCI, Inc. ... The downtown San Francisco skyline, looking east from the central part of the city. ... Perris is a city located in Riverside County, California. ... The City of Los Angeles (from Spanish Los Ángeles , meaning the angels), also known as L.A., is the second-largest city in the United States in terms of population, as well as one of the worlds most important economic, cultural, and entertainment centers. ... Waipio Acres is a census-designated place located in Honolulu County, Hawaii. ... Cedar Hill is a city located sixteen miles from downtown Dallas in the southwest corner of Dallas County in Texas and adjoined by Joe Pool Lake and Cedar Hill State Park to its west. ... Downtown Dallas City nickname: Big D Location Location in the state of Texas Government Counties Dallas County Collin County Denton County Kaufman County Rockwall County Mayor Laura Miller Physical characteristics Area      Land      Water 385. ... Lake Geneva is a city located in Walworth County, Wisconsin. ... Chicago, colloquially known as the Second City and the Windy City, is the third-largest city in population in the United States and the largest inland city in the country. ...

External Links

• Description of the Westar satellites at Boeing Satellite System's (formerly Hughes) web site
• Description of Westars 1,2 & 3 at Gunter's Space Page
• Description of Westars 4,5, & 6 at Gunter's Space Page
• The Satellite Encyclopedia's entry for Westar 1
• The Satellite Encyclopedia's entry for Westar 2
• The Satellite Encyclopedia's entry for Westar 3
• The Satellite Encyclopedia's entry for Westar 4
• The Satellite Encyclopedia's entry for Westar 5
• The Satellite Encyclopedia's entry for Westar 6
• Photos of the Westar Sky Valley earth station