sts-51

This is the first version of the Swissartex STS-51E patch, made when CNES astronaut Patrick Baudry was added as a payload specialist. The body was already designed so he was added as a tab. A later crew change added Ed Garn which necessitated another patch change. Rather than destroying the patches produced up to that time, it was decided that the main body could be preserved and the Baudry tab could simple be cut off and the new Baudry/Garn tab could be glued on to the body. 

To date (2015) only 4 patches are known to have survived the removal of the tab and are in private collections.

STS-51 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission that launched the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite ACTS in September 1993. The flight also featured the deployment and retrieval of the SPAS-ORFEUS satellite and its IMAX camera, which captured spectacular footage of Discovery in space. A spacewalk was also performed during the mission to evaluate tools and techniques for the STS-61 Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission later that year. STS-51 was the first shuttle mission to fly a GPS receiver, a Trimble TANS Quadrex. It was mounted in an overhead window where limited field of view and signal attenuation from the glass severely impacted receiver performance. (Full triple-redundant 3-string GPS would not happen until 14 years later with STS-118.)

The five white stars and one yellow star of the insignia symbolize the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence. The insignia also depicts the triangular SPAS-ORFEUS on the right

This version of the patch has a yellow border.

Launched from STS-51
The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), a significant activity of the NASA Space Communications Program, provided for the development and flight test of high-risk, advanced communications satellite technology. Using multiple spot beam antennas and advanced on-board switching and processing systems, ACTS pioneered new initiatives in communications satellite technology. NASA Glenn Research Center was responsible for the development, management, and operation of ACTS as part of a long legacy of experimental communications satellites.

Launched from STS-51
The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), a significant activity of the NASA Space Communications Program, provided for the development and flight test of high-risk, advanced communications satellite technology. Using multiple spot beam antennas and advanced on-board switching and processing systems, ACTS pioneered new initiatives in communications satellite technology. NASA Glenn Research Center was responsible for the development, management, and operation of ACTS as part of a long legacy of experimental communications satellites.

STS-51 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission that launched the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite ACTS in September 1993. The flight also featured the deployment and retrieval of the SPAS-ORFEUS satellite and its IMAX camera, which captured spectacular footage of Discovery in space. A spacewalk was also performed during the mission to evaluate tools and techniques for the STS-61 Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission later that year. STS-51 was the first shuttle mission to fly a GPS receiver, a Trimble TANS Quadrex. It was mounted in an overhead window where limited field of view and signal attenuation from the glass severely impacted receiver performance. (Full triple-redundant 3-string GPS would not happen until 14 years later with STS-118.)

The five white stars and one yellow star of the insignia symbolize the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence. The insignia also depicts the triangular SPAS-ORFEUS on the right

This version of unknown origin has an embroidered "51" on the South American continent stitching.

STS-51 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission that launched the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite ACTS in September 1993. The flight also featured the deployment and retrieval of the SPAS-ORFEUS satellite and its IMAX camera, which captured spectacular footage of Discovery in space. A spacewalk was also performed during the mission to evaluate tools and techniques for the STS-61 Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission later that year. STS-51 was the first shuttle mission to fly a GPS receiver, a Trimble TANS Quadrex. It was mounted in an overhead window where limited field of view and signal attenuation from the glass severely impacted receiver performance. (Full triple-redundant 3-string GPS would not happen until 14 years later with STS-118.)

The five white stars and one yellow star of the insignia symbolize the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence. The insignia also depicts the triangular SPAS-ORFEUS on the right.

STS-51 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission that launched the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite ACTS in September 1993. The flight also featured the deployment and retrieval of the SPAS-ORFEUS satellite and its IMAX camera, which captured spectacular footage of Discovery in space. A spacewalk was also performed during the mission to evaluate tools and techniques for the STS-61 Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission later that year. STS-51 was the first shuttle mission to fly a GPS receiver, a Trimble TANS Quadrex. It was mounted in an overhead window where limited field of view and signal attenuation from the glass severely impacted receiver performance. (Full triple-redundant 3-string GPS would not happen until 14 years later with STS-118.)

The five white stars and one yellow star of the insignia symbolize the flight's numerical designation in the Space Transportation System's mission sequence. The insignia also depicts the triangular SPAS-ORFEUS on the right
 

I include two A-B emblem versions with this article, as the embroidery varys ever so slightly. 

 The tenth mission for Challenger, STS-51-L was scheduled to deploy the second in a series of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, carry out the first flight of the Shuttle-Pointed Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN-203)/Halley's Comet Experiment Deployable in order to observe Halley's Comet, and carry out several lessons from space as part of the Teacher in Space Project and Shuttle Student Involvement Program (SSIP). The flight marked the first American orbital mission to involve in-flight fatalities. It was also the first American human spaceflight mission to launch and fail to reach space; the first such mission in the world had been the Soviet Soyuz 18a mission, in which the two crew members had survived. Gregory Jarvis was originally scheduled to fly on the previous shuttle flight (STS-61-C), but was re-assigned to this flight and replaced by Congressman Bill Nelson.

This patch shares many features of this STS-51L crew patch. 

Launched from STS-51
The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), a significant activity of the NASA Space Communications Program, provided for the development and flight test of high-risk, advanced communications satellite technology. Using multiple spot beam antennas and advanced on-board switching and processing systems, ACTS pioneered new initiatives in communications satellite technology. NASA Glenn Research Center was responsible for the development, management, and operation of ACTS as part of a long legacy of experimental communications satellites.

The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS), a significant activity of the Space Communications
Program, provides for the development and flight test of high-risk, advanced communications satellite technology. Using
multiple spot beam antennas and advanced on-board switching and processing systems, ACTS is pioneering new
initiatives in communications satellite technology.

Deployed on STS-51