From summer 1976 to fall 1985, C. Bruce Brooks was the program manager of the STAR 48 solid rocket program. The summer of 1976 was the outset of contracted work for the STAR 48 motor. McDonnell Douglas Corporation, an aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, was a contracting party.

In 1978, Thiokol and McDonnell Douglas entered into a contract for the development and qualification of an upper-stage motor, the STAR 48 motor. The development and qualification contract was labeled the 7011 contract. This contract established a rigorous series of development and qualification tests that Thiokol's proposed design had to meet before Thiokol was allowed to begin production. McDonnell Douglas approved a carbon-carbon exit cone built by a third contractor, Hitco. The designs underwent a series of approvals before the motor was subjected to a series of tests, followed by investigations and more approvals prior to production of the motor.

The STAR 48 motors developed under the 7011 contact were used in two communications satellites named the Westar VI and the Palapa B-2. The Westar VI was owned by Western Union, and the Palapa B-2 was an Indonesia-owned satellite. The two satellites were to be deployed on the fourth mission (STS-41-B) of the space shuttle Challenger.

On February 3, 1984, the space shuttle Challenger used the Payload Assist Module (PAM) system to deploy the Westar VI; however, the satellite failed to reach its transfer orbit. Three days later, the Challenger deployed the Palapa B-2 satellite, which also failed to reach its transfer orbit because of a motor failure. A failure investigation determined the carbon-carbon exit cone caused the STAR 48 motor to fail because the upper-stage booster rocket burned out prematurely.

The space shuttle Discovery's second flight (STS-51-A, formerly STS-19) in November 1984 retrieved both satellites.

Western Union and Indonesia had obtained insurance for their satellites from more than two dozen companies. Some of the insurance companies paid out. These insurance companies filed suit against the manufacturers of the satellites for repayment, contending that the cost should be borne by the firms that built the spacecraft and its engine.

The insurance companies of the Westar were the first to bring suit, and it is considered the first lawsuit over property damage in space. Soon after, the insurers of the Palapa satellite filed suit.

In September 1989, the 4th District Court of Appeals upheld a pervious dismissal of the Westar case. It ruled that the sales contract between Western Union and McDonnell Douglas precluded the insurers from recovering their money.

In May 1990, a Superior Court jury determined that McDonnell Douglas, Thiokol, and Hitco were not responsible for the failure of the Palapa communications satellite. The jury decided that the three insurance firms (Lexington Insurance, Northbrook Excell, and Talbot Bird & Co.) were not entitled to recover the money paid for the loss of the equipment. However, this panel did fine Morton Thiokol for breaching a warranty in the contract with McDonnell Douglas. This trial is referred to as the Lexington trial.

McDonnell Douglas then sued Thiokol Corporation for breach of warranty. This lawsuit is known as McDonnell Douglas Corporation v. Thiokol Corporation. The lawyer representing Thiokol was Larry Kaplan from the firm Kaplan & Begy.

In October 1995, the case went to trial, and the district court entered the judgment against McDonnell Douglas, deciding that Thiokol did not breach its express warranties. The Judgement was published in January 1996.