100th satellite equipped with Saft Li-ion batteries launched

PARIS, FRANCE: Saft, the world's leading designer and manufacturer of high technology batteries for industry, achieved a milestone when the 100th satellite to use the company's pioneering Li-ion battery technology launched this month.

The Inmarsat 5 F-1 satellite lifted off from the Proton M rocket in Baikonour, Kazakhstan on December 8. The takeoff also marks the 75th GEO satellite in orbit using Saft batteries.

Saft began supplying Li-ion batteries little more than a decade ago, in 2002, and has since developed a strong reputation as the leader in reliability and performance among customers worldwide. To date, Saft customers have launched Li-ion batteries valued at M€120 into space. The company has put more than 9,000 battery cells into orbit and logged 275 million hours, or 31,000 years, without failure or deviation. Its Li-ion technology is proven to last throughout the life of the satellite, up to 18 years of orbit in most cases.

Saft's extensive list of partnerships with flight heritage includes space and defense industry leaders, such as Boeing, EADS Astrium, Thales Alenia Space, Orbital Sciences Corp, NASA, the European Space Agency, CNES and many others.

The company's long heritage in space dates back to its first satellite launch in 1966, and Saft has since continued to grow its market share within the sector, helped by its Li-ion technology. Most of the company's batteries in orbit are within the GEO commercial or military telecom satellites, with the oldest, W3A manufactured by EADS AST, launched in 2004.