As Westar 6, the satellite was built by Hughes Space and Communications. It was based on the HS-376satellite bus. At launch it had a mass of 1,244 kg (2,743 lb),[2] and a design life of thirteen years. It carried twenty four C-bandtransponders.[1] After launch from the Space Shuttle as part of mission STS-41-B its PAM-D booster rocket misfired, and the satellite was stranded in a useless low orbit. It was retrieved by shuttle astronauts in November 1984, and Hughes was contracted to refurbish it. Westar 6 was eventually sold, for US$58 million, to the AsiaSat consortium and renamed AsiaSat 1.[2]
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).