Westar

Westar was a fleet of geosynchronous communications satellites operating in the C band which were launched by Western Union from 1974 to 1984.

Westar 6, also an HS-376 based satellite, was launched from STS-41-B on February 3, 1984, to be put into service afterward, but the perigee kick motor (also known as the Payload Assist Module, or PAM) on the satellite failed during its approach to geosynchronous orbit, placing it at an improper and inoperable low Earth orbit.

It was retrieved on November 16, 1984, by the STS-51-A mission of NASA's Space Shuttle, where it was brought back to earth.

[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 partially funded by the insurance companies led by Lloyd's of London who insured the launch of those two satellites.

This resulted in Western Union selling the Westar satellite fleet and operations to Hughes in 1988.