The United States developed the Space Shuttle system to improve its access to space. Since the first flight in April 1981, the Shuttle has carried more than 1.5 million pounds of cargo and over 600 major payloads into orbit. The Shuttle is the first and only reusable space vehicle, and is the world¹s most reliable and versatile launch system. The Shuttle can be configured to carry many different types of equipment, spacecraft and scientific experiments. In addition to transporting people, materials, equipment and spacecraft to orbit, the Shuttle allows astronauts to service and repair satellites and observatories in space, as was demonstrated with the successful repair of the Hubble Space Telescope in December 1993.
Most comsats and weathersats are in geostationary orbit. The shuttle does not have the ability to reach geostationary orbit. Therefore the shuttle cannot be used for repairs to comsats and weathersats.