Spacecraft battery options are heavily influenced by advances in the terrestrial battery market, which is in turn driven mainly by the mobile electronics industry. Advances in battery technology can greatly benefit the performance of small satellites, but the suitability of these technologies for space is often an unknown.
Staff at Clyde Space have extensive experience in the use of commercial battery technologies in space. We can provide small satellite battery solutions using the following technologies:
Our current space battery products include our CubeSat battery. The cells that we have selected for space use have undergone extensive evaluation, in collaboration with ESA, to assess their suitability for the space environment - including leak and bulge tests. They have also performed well under life tests.
Each batch of cells received at Clyde Space is subjected to Lot Acceptance Testing, and cells are matched by capacity before integration into a battery. Our battery systems have integrated balancing circuitry, over-voltage and under-voltage protection, plus over-current protection via a PTC which can be replaced easily in case of short circuit. Once assembled, our battery systems are fully tested to ensure all protection circuits are functioning, and the battery capacity is verified.
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