EnerSys' ABSL Batteries Successfully Delivered to the International Space Station |
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EnerSys, Inc.
P.O. Box 14145
Reading, PA, 19612-4145
USA
Press release date: March 8, 2011
READING, Pa. - EnerSys (NYSE: ENS), the global leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications, announced that its recently acquired ABSL Space Products (ABSL) business had its batteries successfully delivered to the International Space Station (ISS).
ABSL was the first space flight battery manufacturer to qualify Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) cells for space flight more than a decade ago and was the first to orbit a Li-Ion battery. Continuing this tradition of battery heritage, innovation and product delivery, ABSL completed four high energy density Li-Ion long life battery assemblies that were completely designed, manufactured, and tested at its Longmont Colorado facility. The battery assemblies were delivered to NASA Johnson Space Center for the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Program in 2010. On February 24, 2011, the four battery assemblies were launched aboard shuttle Discovery on its last mission to rendezvous with the ISS, the second space launch of ABSL Colorado-built battery hardware. Earlier this year, ABSL delivered a battery to an undisclosed client for a space flight.
The high energy density Li-Ion long life battery assemblies, >190Wh/kg at cell-level, will replace older silver zinc battery technology on the EMU for spacewalks from the ISS. ABSL heritage and innovation played a fundamental role in meeting the technical challenges involved with the replacement of the existing older technology. Flexibility with battery configurations and ABSL's ability to customize solutions for NASA allowed the Li-Ion replacement batteries to operate within the existing space and electrical interfaces of the equipment. The energy density of ABSL's battery assemblies will more than double the present run times of the older silver zinc batteries, thus improving performance and increasing safety and reliability.
The battery assemblies are planned to be used for the first time for spacewalk activities in late April or early May 2011 during the STS-134 docked duration. Manned space missions such as these require battery power sources to be, above all, safe and ABSL's high performance batteries are designed with multiple levels of redundancy that can maintain functionality under various failure scenarios in order to ensure safety is never compromised.
About EnerSys: EnerSys, the world leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications, manufactures and distributes reserve power and motive power batteries, chargers, power equipment, and battery accessories to customers worldwide. Motive power batteries are utilized in electric forklift trucks and other commercial electric powered vehicles. Reserve power batteries are used in the telecommunication and utility industries, uninterruptible power supplies, and numerous applications requiring stored energy solutions including aerospace and defense systems. The company also provides aftermarket and customer support services to its customers from over 100 countries through its sales and manufacturing locations around the world.
Website: http://www.enersys.com.
About ABSL: ABSL is a world leader in the supply of Lithium-ion batteries for space applications with contracts for more than one hundred spacecraft and launch vehicle batteries. ABSL supplied the first rechargeable Lithium-ion battery flown in space, and now over sixty spacecraft are flying powered by ABSL Lithium-ion battery technology.
ABSL has production facilities in Longmont, Colorado; Culham, England; and Thurso, Scotland. The Longmont facility services U.S. customers and the United Kingdom facilities service the rest of the world. ABSL has a global customer base and has successfully executed major contracts with major prime manufacturers in North America, Europe and the rest of the world. ABSL has highly varied space energy storage capability having delivered primary, secondary, high power, high energy and high voltage solutions to the space industry. ABSL has demonstrated in orbit the most reliable Lithium-ion products currently available for the space market by accumulating over 37,000 cell years of space operation without failure.
ABSL has been active in the space industry since the 1960's. During the 1980's ABSL was the largest non-US subcontractor to the United States Strategic Development Initiative (SDI). More recently effort has been focused on ABSL power and optical products, including infrared calibration systems.
SOURCE EnerSys
CONTACT: Richard Zuidema, Executive Vice President, EnerSys, +1-800-538-3627
Web Site: http://www.enersys.com
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