Ariane 5 ECA
orbits ABS-2
and Athena
Fidus
On February
6, at 21:30
UT,
Arianespace
carried out
the 58th
successful
Ariane 5
launch in a
row,
orbiting two
telecommunications
satellites:
ABS-2 for
the operator
ABS and
Athena-Fidus
for
Telespazio,
on behalf of
the French
and Italian
space
agencies.
First Ariane
5 launch in
2014 and
58th
successful
launch in a
row:
Arianespace
continues to
deliver the
world's most
reliable
launch
service!
Today's
successful
mission, the
58th in a
row for
Europe's
Ariane 5
launcher,
confirms
that
Arianespace
continues to
set the
standard for
guaranteed
access to
space for
all
operators,
whether
national or
international
space
agencies,
private
industry or
governments.
Following
the
announcement
of the
orbital
injection of
the ABS-2
and Athena
Fidus
satellites,
Arianespace
Chairman and
CEO Stéphane
Israël said,
"Today's
launch, the
58th success
in a row for
Ariane 5 and
the 250th
launch for
our family
of Ariane,
Soyuz and
Vega
launchers,
confirms the
unrivaled
reliability
and
availability
of our
launch
systems. I
would like
to
underscore
our pride
this evening
in being
able to meet
the
requirements
of two
customers
that
symbolize
Arianespace's
dual
mission: to
offer highly
reliable
services to
private
operators
from around
the world,
like ABS,
and to
guarantee
independent
access to
space to
European
governments,
today for
the French
and Italian
ministries
of defense
and homeland
security
units
working in
partnership
with CNES,
ASI and
Telespazio.
I would like
to thank ABS
for
entrusting
us with
their first
launch
contract,
and also
thank
Telespazio,
along with
customers
CNES and
ASI, for
their
loyalty. In
addition, I
would like
to express
my gratitude
to Airbus
Defence &
Space, as
the
industrial
prime
contractor
for Ariane
5, to the
rest of the
European
space
industry and
to the teams
from
CNES-CSG for
today's
magnificent
success."
A launch for
a global
operator,
ABS
ABS is one
of the
fastest
growing
global
satellite
operators in
the world.
ABS operates
a fleet of
five
satellites,
which will
now include
ABS-2. In
addition,
ABS has
ordered two
new
satellites,
slated for
launch in
the next two
years.
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
will be
positioned
in
geostationary
orbit at 75
degrees
East. Fitted
with C, Ku
and Ka-band
transponders,
it will
provide
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).
ABS-2 is the
43rd
satellite
built by
Space
Systems/Loral
to be
launched by
Arianespace.
A dual
mission: for
civil and
military
communications
Athena-Fidus
was built by
Thales
Alenia Space
using a
Spacebus
4000B2
platform.
Weighing
3,080 kg at
launch, it
offers a
design life
exceeding 15
years.
It is the
130th
payload
built by
Thales
Alenia Space
and launched
by
Arianespace.
The
ABS-2/Athena-Fidus
mission at a
glance
The mission
was carried
out by an
Ariane 5 ECA
launcher
from
Europe's
Spaceport in
Kourou,
French
Guiana.
Liftoff was
on Thursday,
February 6,
2014 at 6:30
pm local
time in
Kourou (4:30
pm in
Washington,
D.C., 21:30
UT, 10:30 pm
in Paris,
and on
Friday,
February 7
at 5:30 am
in Hong
Kong).
This was the 216th Ariane launch. Airbus Defence & Space is the industrial prime contractor for Ariane launch vehicles. The Ariane 5 ECA used on this mission boosted 10,214 kg into geostationary transfer orbit, including 9,410 kg for the two satellites.