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WestarThe WESTAR series of satellites were created by Western Union to provide continuous video, facsimile, data, and voice communication services throughout the United States while orbiting at 22,300 miles above the equator. The latest satellite in the series is WESTAR VI, which was launched from a space shuttle in February 1984. However, its launch was a failure and it had to be retrieved by astronauts. Western Union ended their involvement with the WESTAR satellites in 1988 when the satellites were sold to Hughes Communications. At the time of the sale to Hughes Communications, only WESTAR 3, 4, and 5 were operational as 1 and 2 were retired, and 6's launch had failed. All WESTAR satellites have been launched by NASA. The Westar satellites are notable because the first satellite in the series, WESTAR I, was the first U.S. domestic communications satellite. See Also
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