French battery manufacturer Saft has expanded its foray into space by signing its second multi-million-dollar deal within weeks to supply lithium-ion batteries for satellites.
The company has just signed a Long Term Agreement (LTA) with US technology firm Lockheed Martin to supply lithium-ion batteries for the company’s telecommunications satellites.
Saft will supply high-energy VL48E li-ion cells with a 3.6V, 48Ah package to power the satellites through a space lifecycle.
Last month, BEST reported that Saft had signed a deal with Boeing to continue its supply of li-ion battery packs for communication satellites, taking the total of Boeing satellites powers by the French firm’s batteries to 145. Read more here.
Saft has positioned itself as a leading supplier of batteries for satellites, with its technology deployed in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) telecommunication satellites, medium Earth orbit (MEO) global positioning satellites, observation and defence low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.
