LEO satellites
Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites operate in orbits of around 100 km to 1,000 km above the Earth’s surface – much lower than traditional communications satellites – which brings them into frequent radio contact with ground stations. LEOs are used for a variety of civil, scientific and military roles including Earth observation, radar, optical, telecoms and demonstrator.
LEO satellite constellations now form a vital link in the expanding communications and observation networks that are essential for global economic development, especially in remote areas. Reliability is therefore a key issue for satellite manufacturers and operators.
Saft has developed a dedicated range of rechargeable Ni-Cd and Li-ion battery solutions to meet the specific on-board power needs of all types of LEO – large LEO, minisat and microsat. These include:
LEO battery duty
The Saft on-board battery system works in conjunction with the LEO satellite’s solar array to provide the electrical power for on-board electronics. When the solar array is fully exposed to the Sun, it powers the satellite as well as charging the batteries. When the solar array is ‘eclipsed’ by the Earth, with no direct sunlight, the batteries power the satellite. This charge and discharge cycle is repeated every time the satellite completes one Earth orbit – typically every 90 minutes.
AGILE mission
AGILE, the Italian Space Agency’s high-energy astrophysics mission, launched in 2007, is the first LEO satellite to be powered by Saft’s commercially available space-qualified Space MPS prismatic Li-ion batteries.