Saft will supply lithium-ion batteries for two next-generation U.S. weather satellites under a subcontract with Lockheed Martin valued at more than $10 million, Saft’s U.S. subsidiary, based in Cockeysville, Md., said in a May 23 press release.
Denver-based Lockheed Martin Space Systems is prime contractor the Geostationary-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R series of weather satellites, scheduled to launch starting in 2015. The company is building two spacecraft, GOES-R and GOES-S, under a NASA contract now valued at $894.7 million.
“Saft’s space qualified high-energy Li-ion [lithium-ion] batteries have a long history of performing in satellite applications,” Thomas Alcide, general manager of Saft’s Specialty Battery Group, said in a prepared statement. “This is our largest ever satellite contract to date.”
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration funds and operates the GOES satellites, typically stationing one each overlooking the U.S. East and West coasts. The satellites keep tabs on weather conditions and also monitor the space environment.
