Saft Powers Amazonas in GEO

Hispasat’s Amazonas satellite is the second communications spacecraft launched in the world equipped with a lithium-ion battery. Manufactured by EADS Astrium, the satellite is based on the new Eurostar E3000 platform, with Saft’s rechargeable Li-ion battery cells.

The Amazonas battery is made of Saft’s Li-ion VES 140 cells and modules which are manufactured at Saft’s Bordeaux, France, industrial plant. The battery modules are designed, integrated, and tested at Saft’s Pontiers, France, facility. The overall battery design, assembly, integration, and testing are performed by EADS Astrium’s facility in Toulouse, France.

Amazonas delivers 9.5kW, appropriate for the specific needs of satellite communication across the entire region. Saft’s Li-ion technology led to a 30% reduction of the overall battery weight compared to its nickel-hydrogen technology predecessors. The satellite flies 22,000 miles above the Earth in its designated orbital slot. By reducing battery weight and space, Hispasat was able to add more revenue-generating services to the payload.

Amazonas will provide enterprise links, Internet service, and television broadcast. The satellite is designed to provide at least 15 years of coverage and revenue generation. Like other GEO satellites, Amazonas uses its batteries only when the Earth hides it from the Sun during the equinoxes around September 21 and March 21. The rest of the time, it relies on solar panels. A GEO satellite uses its batteries over a 22-day period on each side of the equinox.