Launch Success
Liftoff Time (GMT)
21:30:00
Thursday February 6, 2014
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Flight VA217.
The ABS-2 satellite was built by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) using the LS-1300 platform. It weighed more than 6,330 kg at launch and was positioned in geostationary orbit at 75 degrees East. Fitted with C, Ku, and Ka-band transponders, it provides telecommunications, direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting, multimedia, and data transmission services for Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Russia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Geostationary Transfer Orbit
1 Payload
6,330 kilograms
Athena-Fidus (Access on theatres for European allied forces nations-French Italian dual-use satellite) is a French-Italian telecommunication satellite providing high-throughput secure communications to both nation's armed forces and their emergency services. It was manufactured by Thales Alenia Space under the supervision of CNES, the DGA, and the Italian Space Agency. It complements the lower-throughput but more secure Syracuse 3 satellites. The satellite has a wet mass of 3 tonnes and was placed on Geostationary orbit in 2014. Its expected lifetime is 15 years.
Geostationary Transfer Orbit
1 Payload
3,080 kilograms
Manufacturer
ESAPrice
$200.00 million
Rocket
Diameter: 5.4m
Height: 53m
Payload to Orbit
LEO: 21,000 kg
GTO: 10,500 kg
Liftoff Thrust
15,120 Kilonewtons
Fairing
Diameter: 5.4m
Height: 17m
Stages
2
Strap-ons
2
72nd
Mission
1st
Mission of 2014
211th
Mission
1st
Mission of 2014
6th
Orbital launch attempt