On February 06, 2014 at 21:30 UTC the Ariane-5ECA (VA-217) rocket- carrier was launched from Kourou space center in French Guiana. The rocket orbited ABS-2 and ATHENA FIDUS telecommunications satellites.

The ABS 2 spacecraft for Hong Kong-based Asia Broadcast Satellite was built by Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif., USA. The satellite will beam direct-to-home television, multimedia and data transmission services across the Eastern Hemisphere, reaching a geographic swath from Europe and Africa, across the Middle East, Russia and India, to Southeast Asia and China.

The ATHENA FIDUS (Access on Theatres for European Nations Allied forces – French Italian Dual Use Satellite) communications satellite financed by the French and Italian governments will serve military and security forces.