Optus D2 COMSAT Launched with Saft Batteries

click to enlarge

The Optus D2 communications satellite with Saft Li-ion technology onboard was launched from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, via the Ariane 5 launcher, which is also equipped with Saft batteries. Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Virginia, selected Saft’s high-performance Li-ion batteries for the satellite built for Optus of Australia. Saft provided two 160Ah Li-ion batteries with VES140 cells each delivering 40Ah.

This marks the 14th spacecraft launched with Saft’s Li-ion technology, worldwide. In 2006, Orbital was the first to launch Saft’s Li-ion technology into GEO orbit in the U.S. on a U.S. government satellite, and the first to launch Saft’s Li-ion technology in the U.S. on a telecom satellite with Optus D1.