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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lithion Inc. XSS-11
Battery Orbiting Earth
Pawcatuck, CT USA-
Lithion, Inc., a division of Yardney Technical Products has another lithium ion
battery orbiting the earth, onboard the Air Force Research Laboratory’s XSS-11
micro satellite. The battery was delivered to Lockheed Martin Space Systems –
Astronautics Operations, headquartered near Denver Colorado in June 2004, and
recently launched onboard a Minotaur Expendable Launch Vehicle from Vandenberg
Air Force Base, California.
The 28V/30Ah battery designed
for this project has been selected for several other Low Earth Orbit space
missions since this delivery. This successful launch continues the recent
successes of Lithion Batteries in a variety of air, land, sea and space
environments.
In January 2005 Lithion
celebrated the one-year anniversary of their Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
batteries successfully operating on Mars. Originally planned for a 3-month
mission, the two 28V, 8Ah Li-ion batteries provide power to the Rovers during
the Martian night and peak power to the MER during the day. In February 2005
Lithion was awarded the contract to supply High Energy Density Lithium-ion
Batteries for the Hubble Robotic Servicing & Deorbit Mission (HRSDM). The
purpose of the HRSDM Program is to perform on-orbit servicing of the NASA Hubble
Space Telescope (HST). Two space modules, both of which will include identical
Lithion batteries are planned for the high visibility satellite-rescue/servicing
mission.
“We are very pleased to get a
second project successfully into space and providing service to our customers.”
Vince Yevoli, Vice President and General Manager of Lithion, stated. “We
delivered this battery over 9 months ago, and we have several more in the
pipeline. With each launch the space industry captures the advantages of a
lightweight, high-energy storage system like Lithium Ion. The future for this
application continues to look very promising. ”
Visit the
Mission Status Center for more information concerning the
XSS-11 program. |
