This is the kind of stuff that gets me excited. Why? Because I worked in the space industry with satellites and things of this nature. My claim to fame was standing in the payload bay of a space shuttle on the launch pad during payload closeout operations (I was a system safety engineer at the time). I know how important batteries are for space applications, as they power most satellites when they are not receiving illumination from the sun through their solar cells. Anyway, here's the article:
The long-lasting, lightweight batteries made by Lyten could extend astronauts' extravehicular activity from 4 to 8 hours, and power the growing number of low earth orbit satellites.
Lyten, a California-based battery tech company, has been chosen by NASA and the Department of Defense (DoD) to send its lithium-sulfur battery technology to the International Space Station (ISS) on a 2025 mission.
The energy dense, lightweight cells could extend the time astronauts can spend on space walks from four to eight hours. They could also keep low orbit satellites in orbit for longer, such as the ones Starlink relies on.
"The rapid growth in low earth orbit satellite deployments...create(s) a very compelling use for high-energy density, lithium-sulfur battery cells," says Celina Mikolajczak, chief battery technology officer at Lyten. "These are applications where weight and reliability are of critical importance."
At the ISS, the team will test three formats of Lyten cells, one pouch and two cylindrical sizes. The goal is to validate them for a wide range of space applications, so they will monitor them under launch, orbital, and recovery conditions. The Defense Innovation Unit at the DoD is funding the work as part of its "ongoing lithium-sulfur development and production-focused relationship with Lyten," says Lyten.
Lyten batteries are already set to power combat drones, the company announced in August, and potentially electric cars and consumer electronics in the future. The company successfully validated its mass production process in March, and is breaking ground on its first large-scale factory with the help of grant funding from the Department of Energy. The batteries are manufactured in the US with locally sourced materials, a contrast to the majority Chinese-made packs available today.
