Clyde Space has been awarded an Innovation Triangle Initiative (ITI) contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) to perform characterisation and qualification testing on a Lithium Polymer Cell battery to demonstrate its suitability for use on Small Satellites.
The key advantages of a lithium polymer cell is its lightweight, high energy density and slim, volume efficient geometry. The cell uses a polymer electrolyte and is packaged in a foil bag, which provides both mass and magnetic signature advantages.
This ESA contract follows on from an ESA Study in 2005 which evaluated the use of lithium polymer technology in space; the study produced some encouraging results; in particular, a cell that performed well in reduced pressure environments and over a wide temperature range.
'We are delighted to be awarded this contract, our first from ESA', says Craig Clark, CEO of Clyde Space Ltd.
'The information generated by the ESA ITI project will increase our understanding of the performance of the cell in specific mission scenarios. In particular, we will be examining the needs of typical small satellite missions. The results of the ESA ITI will feed directly into our small satellite battery development programme. We are aiming to soon have a reliable, off-the-shelf, small satellite battery product that has a price and performance to meet the requirements of small satellite programmes.'
Senior Battery Engineer at Clyde Space, Dr. Vicki McLaren commented, 'It is very exciting to be working at the forefront of space battery technology.
The lithium Polymer cells in particular are ideal for small satellite applications and we are delighted to be making this technology an option for use on future small satellite missions.
Clyde Space are already producing lithium polymer based batteries for CubeSats, Picosatellites and Nanosatellites and the cells are scheduled to be flown as the primary energy storage medium on several missions this and next year.
