Saft lithium-ion batteries to power GOES-T & U weather satellites for NOAA
(8 March 2016) Saft has been awarded a new multi-million dollar contract with Lockheed Martin to provide lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-T & U) weather satellites.
With a previous contract in 2012 for the GOES-R & S satellites, this marks the second GOES satellite program partnership for Saft.
Saft will provide four Li-ion batteries with VL48E cells for the GOES-T & U satellites. Saft’s Li-ion technology meets the unique capacity and temperature requirements for the satellite, as well as the specific operational environment. With the intense environmental conditions in space, Saft’s batteries are designed to provide power for the satellite’s imperative functions throughout its operational life.
“It is mission critical that our batteries withstand extremely demanding space missions,” said Annie Sennet, Executive Vice President of Saft’s Space & Defence Division. “We are providing architectural and system design, as well as complete testing and integration of batteries designed specifically for Lockheed Martin’s needs.”
The GOES-R series of satellites, including T & U, will provide a platform for Earth, solar and space-viewing instruments. Data gathered from the instruments will be used for weather forecasting and environmental, space and solar science. With its highly advanced instruments and sensors, the GOES-R series will provide three times more data, four times better resolution and more than five times faster coverage than current GOES weather satellites, ultimately providing more timely and accurate weather forecasts and severe storm warnings.
Saft recently signed a long term, five year agreement with Lockheed Martin to provide Li-ion cells for its satellites. The partnership ensures production of Li-ion cells for Saft’s Cockeysville, Maryland facility over the next four years. Battery units for GOES-T are scheduled for delivery in 2018, and units for GOES-U will be delivered in 2020.
(source: Saft)
