The Earth has a circumference of approximately 25,000 miles and rotates once every 24 hours (we'll skip sidereal). That means at the equator, the Earth is rotating approximately 1041 MPH. As your latitude increases, the rotational velocity decreases (lower circumference).

If you launch to the east, you can take advantage of that rotational velocity. If orbital velocity is approximately 17,500 MPH, you only have to accelerate by about 16,500 MPH to achieve orbit. This is called a prograde orbit because you're orbiting in the same direction as the Earth's rotation.

However, if you launched to the west, you'd have to overcome the Earth's rotational velocity. That means you'd have to accelerate by about 18,500 MPH, a net difference of about 2,000 MPH. That takes a lot of extra fuel and so a given booster's payload would be greatly reduced. This is called a retrograde orbit because it goes the opposite direction of the Earth's rotation.

Due to the performance penalty, not too many satellites are launched into retrograde orbits. The most common retrograde orbit is the sun-synchronous orbit. This orbit has an inclination of approximately 96-98 degrees, making it only slightly retrograde. Properly done, a sun-synchronous orbit means a satellite will pass over the Earth at the same sun angle. This is most often used for reconnaissance, Earth resources, and polar orbiting weather satellites.