Saft will continue to supply lithium-ion battery packs for communication satellites after the firm renewed its multi-million dollar contract with aircraft company Boeing.
More than 145 satellites are currently powered by the French firm’s advanced lithium-ion batteries. Each battery contains multiple lithium-ion cells and modules and supplies 8kW of on-board power during its 15-year life.
The battery supports the satellite’s geosynchronous orbit (GEO) mission when its solar rays are blocked by the earth during the two 45-day eclipse periods each year.
Saft first signed a Long Term Agreement (LTA) with Boeing in 2009 for four new 702SP communications satellites that were designed to operate in the three to eight kW power range for Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) and Satélites Mexicanos (Satmex).
The batteries were delivered from Saft’s Cockeysville Space and Defence Division factory in Maryland, US.
The first two satellites, ABS-3A and Satmex 7, were completed in early 2015 and launched together on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
