The Use of Small Cell Lithium-Ion Batteries for Small Satellite Applications

During solar eclipse, spacecraft rely on batteries to power all on-board electrical systems. Advances in battery technology have lead to lighter products that, in turn, allow spacecraft to fly heavier and more capable payloads. AEA Technology has pioneered the current state of the art in the space community1: Lithium-ion battery technology. Traditionally space batteries were composed of a single series connected string of cells. The cells are sized (in terms of capacity) according to mission requirements and so cell qualification programmes for individual missions are common. The small cell approach involves taking Commercially available Off The Shelf (COTS) Lithium-ion cells, qualifying the design for space, and using a strict Lot Acceptance Test (LAT) process to ensure the continued quality of cell batches for space flight. The technology has proved to be ideal for small satellite missions due to the low-cost of small cell battery designs compared to rival large cell energy storage solutions. The maturity of the design concept, and therefore low risk of utilisation, allows Protoflight programmes to be adopted for all but the most specialised of applications. A protoflight programme reduces cost due to the lack of need for a dedicated qualification battery unit and test programme