ABSL To Conduct Astronaut Spacesuit Battery Program in Colorado
20th May 2008
On 12th May 2008, at the end of a competitive process, ABSL was awarded the contract to supply Lithium-ion battery hardware to power the astronaut Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) by NASA Johnson Space Center.
An astronaut conducting extravehicular activity supported by the EMUABSL batteries will power systems providing critical life support to astronauts during spacewalks or ExtraVehicular Activity (EVA). When working with NASA in the past, all production activities have taken place in the ABSL United Kingdom facility. However, the EMU program will be conducted at the ABSL Longmont (Colorado) facility proving full end-to-end capability to produce Lithium-ion space batteries on American soil.
Currently, the EMU is powered by older Silver Zinc battery technology but a Lithium-ion replacement is required due to supply problems and the desire to make ground handling and operation easier. The challenge for ABSL was to offer NASA a highly customized solution that fit the existing space envelope and current electrical interfaces. Over the past year, ABSL worked on refining a conceptual design for the EMU battery that, not only was a drop-in replacement for the existing unit, but also could be employed using two alternative Lithium-ion cells. The ABSL proposed solution was selected on a best value basis and the technical challenge of the project was proven by the fact that only ABSL were able to offer a solution that met the requirements for Technical Acceptability.
The EMU battery will be required to meet the rigorous demands of other man-rated components, in particular, being extremely safe and reliable. The ABSL proposed battery pushes the boundaries of current space battery performance as it will have a battery level energy density approaching 150Wh/kg compared with the 110Wh/kg of heritage ABSL battery products. Project Engineer Dr. Jeremy Neubauer commented “the EMU battery design is highly customized with many new ABSL design features that optimize performance, safety and reliability.”
The EMU program will build on other manned programs that ABSL has worked on. In 2004, ABSL was awarded a very large contract to provide very large 270V Lithium-ion batteries for a power system to replace the existing hydrazine powered NASA Space Shuttle Auxiliary Power Unit (APU). ABSL since space qualified the world’s first (and still only) 270V Lithium-ion battery for a launch vehicle Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system. In addition, last month, ABSL was awarded a contract to provide a 270V Lithium-ion battery for an ESA experiment that will fly on the International Space Station. ABSL Space Products US Operations Manager Chris Pearson commented “The EMU contract marks the end of the build-up phase of the US operation and the start of the operational phase. ABSL will continue to provide excellent products and customer service and now US customers can draw on this locally.”
-ENDS-
For media information please contact:
USA: Chris Pearson +1 303-241-1229,
ROW: Julia Adams +44 (0) 1865-408-8702,
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