Westar 1

[1] Western Union built a teleport in Cedar Hill, Texas, to uplink content to the Westar satellites (it was interconnected to WU's existing terrestrial microwave network at the time), and another teleport that, in addition to uplink services, would become the main TT&C (Telemetry, Tracking & Control) center for the satellite (and for all of the Westar fleet later on), in Glenwood, New Jersey.

A sixth satellite, Westar 6, was launched in 1984 but failed to reach orbit and was retrieved by the STS-51-A Space Shuttle mission later that year.

It also was utilized by outside customers such as PBS, NPR and the Mutual Broadcasting System, using it for sending television and radio programming via satellite to their local affiliate stations throughout the 1970s and '80s.

[6] Westar 1 was also used for a short time by HBO for its nationwide debut using satellite distribution to cable companies in 1975 (HBO later moved to RCA's competing satellite, Satcom 1, in February 1976).

The 15-meter dishes used to communicate with it at the Cedar Hill site have been decommissioned, but they can still be visited today by contacting Westar Satellite Services.