Hyd Start-Up Firm’s Battery Operates in Space

Hyderabad:A satellite battery developed in Hyderabad has successfully operated in orbit for the first time, giving Indian satellite makers a locally built option for a component that the industry has largely depended on imports for, according to TakeMe2Space.

The company said its PowerBank-50, a commercially available 50 Wh battery pack, powered an experimental payload from Cosmoserve Space aboard Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 Mission ‘Aagaman’, launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, on July 18.

The battery powered the payload on the rocket’s Orbital Adjustment Module at an altitude of 450 km, surviving launch vibration and shock as well as the vacuum and temperature changes encountered in orbit, TakeMe2Space said.

The flight gives the product “flight heritage”, industry terminology for hardware that has successfully operated on an actual space mission.

“Every satellite mission lives or dies by its power system, which is why nobody wants to be the first to fly a new battery,” TakeMe2Space founder and CEO Ronak Kumar Samantray said. He said its performance at 450 km was validation that the battery was ready for use by satellite builders.

Batteries keep satellites operating when they pass through the Earth’s shadow and solar panels cannot generate power. Their failure can therefore jeopardise an entire satellite, making flight-tested power systems particularly important.

TakeMe2Space said the 380-gram PowerBank-50 stores more than 50 Wh of energy in a unit roughly the size of a paperback. It uses lithium-ion cells and has an onboard battery management system to manage and monitor the cells, along with heaters for low temperatures and an aluminium enclosure. Multiple packs can be combined for use in CubeSats and microsatellites, with the company specifying a mission life of up to five years in low Earth orbit.

The company has priced the off-the-shelf unit at Rs 1,04,900. It said domestic availability could reduce dependence on imported battery packs, along with the costs and waiting periods associated with procuring them.

For smaller satellite companies, universities and research teams, the significance lies in having access to a locally available component that has already flown in orbit. Such batteries can eventually support satellites used for weather monitoring, disaster warnings, navigation, communications and agricultural and water surveys.