Boeing

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has extended an agreement with French battery maker Saft to supply lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries for its telecommunication satellites.

Under the five-year agreement, Saft will provide a steady and consistent supply of Li-ion batteries to power Boeing’s satellites when solar rays are blocked by Earth during the geosynchronous orbit (GEO) mission.

Saft’s lighter batteries will help reduce the weight of the satellites, cutting launch costs for Boeing, as well as other spacecraft manufacturers.

Saft America president and Saft speciality battery group general manager Thomas Alcide said: "Saft’s continued relationship with Boeing further validates our proven history and heritage in the space and GEO markets, which now includes more than 145 satellites that have been powered by Saft advanced Li-ion technology solutions.

"Boeing has been awarded a total of eleven contracts to produce and mange Li-ion GEO satellite batteries."

"We look forward to extending vendor status with Boeing and are excited about the opportunity to grow our reputation as a leading manufacturer of satellite batteries."

The current extension is a follow-up to a 2009 long-term agreement between Boeing and Saft.

Under the deal with Saft signed in 2009, Boeing has been awarded a total of eleven contracts to produce and mange Li-ion GEO satellite batteries. The contract is worth more than $20m.

For this project, Saft was appointed to deliver seven satellites worth of battery packs between 2014 and 2015.

The company has more than 50 years of experience in the space market and its Li-ion technology and solutions are expected to withstand extremely difficult missions, such as those by GEO and medium earth orbit (MEO) global positioning satellites.

The batteries are also expected to support specific applications, including high-power telecommunications to observation and defense low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

Image: View of a telecommunication satellite in space. Photo: courtesy of Business Wire.