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Batteries and Chargers
News Release from: Saft Lithium Battery Division | Subject: Li-ion batteries
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 18 August 2004
Lithium-ion batteries lighten satellite
payload
The launch on 4th August of Hispasat's Amazonas satellite signalled a continuing revolution in geostationary satellite power.
The launch on 4th August of Hispasat's Amazonas satellite signalled a continuing revolution in geostationary satellite power Amazonas is the second communications spacecraft launched in the world equipped with a highly efficient lithium-ion battery
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 21 Jun 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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The Amazonas and W3A satellites were manufactured by EADS Astrium.
They are based on the new Eurostar E3000 platform, with Saft's rechargeable Li-ion battery cells.
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Saft is the industry-leading supplier of this advanced battery technology to the prime contractor EADS Astrium and operator Hispasat.
The Amazonas battery is made up of Saft's Li-ion VES 140 cells and modules.
The cells are manufactured at Saft's industrial plant in Bordeaux, France.
The battery modules are designed, integrated and tested at Saft's facility in Poitiers, France.
Based on the modules delivered by Saft, the overall battery design, assembly, integration and testing are performed by EADS Astrium at their facility in Toulouse, France.
Thanks to long-standing co-operation with EADS Astrium, Saft has developed and extensively qualified a Li-ion product line, which is now base-lined on the Eurostar E3000 platform.
Different configurations of this Li-ion product meet the needs for a large range of satellite power.
Such advanced battery designs require the unique expertise that Saft and EADS Astrium have jointly built up in determining design factors and characteristics appropriate for the mission.
Based on considerable ground test data, expectations are that mission performance requirement will be exceeded, even in the tough environment of space.
In addition to pioneering Saft's Li-ion technology, Amazonas, Hispasat's largest satellite, with a record-setting capacity of 32 Ku-band and 19 C-band transponders, will introduce to its customers in Latin America such innovative telecommunications services as space-based high-speed Internet connections.
It also provides traditional satellite telecomms services as well as content broadcasting.
The satellite is designed to provide 15 or more years of coverage and revenue generation for Hispasat.
All services are revenue generating for Hispasat as of Day One of operation.
Amazonas delivers power levels of approximately 9.5kW, appropriate for the specific needs of satellite communication across the entire region.
The power is reflected in the size of this large satellite as well as its launch weight, approximately 4600kg.
Saft's Li-ion technology has led to a reduction of the overall battery weight in excess of 30% compared with its predecessors (nickel-hydrogen technology).
This is a significant factor considering that the satellite flies 36,000km above the Earth in its designated orbital slot.
By reducing battery weight and space on EADS Astrium's Eurostar E3000 platform, the Li-ion technology enables Hispasat to add more revenue-generating services to the payload.
The Proton mission was performed by International Launch Services from its launch pad in Baikonour, Kazakhstan.
Jacinto Garcia Palacios, Hispasat's CEO, commented: "The Latin American market, which Hispasat serves with the launch of this new communications satellite, takes on essential strategic value for our future".
"This is not only because of Spain's historic, cultural and linguistic ties with America, but also because of the extraordinary contribution that communication satellites make to economic and social development".
Hispasat is headquartered in Madrid, Spain, and operates a fleet of satellites covering southwestern Europe and northwestern Africa as well as Central and South America.
Saft has previously supplied several nickel-hydrogen batteries for lower-power satellites before embarking on Li-ion for this most recent high-power bird.
Amazonas will provide a full range of services, including enterprise links, Internet service and television broadcast.
The satellite is designed to provide 15 or more years of coverage and revenue generation for Hispasat, so Saft's batteries had to go through extensive accelerated ground cycle testing to demonstrate reliability.
Like other GEO satellites, Amazonas uses its Saft batteries only when the Earth hides it from the Sun during the twice-yearly equinoxes, around 21st September and 21st March.
The rest of the time, it relies on solar panels for electric power - of 9500W DC, even at its end of life.
A geo satellite uses its batteries over a 22-day period on each side of the equinox.
The different strategic orbits around the Equator are currently full of geos that are working successfully for a wide range of owners and operators around the planet.
As the current fleets of geo satellites are renewed, Saft's Li-ions are now ready to serve their mission-critical assignment of ensuring reliable performance even in this extremely harsh environment - at the same time as reducing the weight and volume that batteries add to the payload's platform.
Amazonas is certainly among the first of many geos that Saft's Li-ion batteries will fly on.
Saft currently has 17 contracts for Li-ion batteries destined for space flight, including upcoming missions on Eurostar E3000 platforms. Request a free brochure from Saft Lithium Battery Division ...
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