EnerSys®, the global leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications, has announced the successful integration of its ABSL™ Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) James Webb Space Telescope launch.
As the successor to the iconic Hubble Space Telescope, Webb is the largest and most powerful space science telescope ever built, and is the result of an International collaboration between NASA and its partners the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and prime industry lead, Northrop Grumman. Webb launched on December 25th, 2021, was sent into orbit upon an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana and will serve as the premier space observatory for the next decade.
EnerSys was selected by Northrop Grumman in 2012 to provide ABSL™ 8s44p rechargeable Li-ion batteries with disconnect relays for Webb, and then awarded a second contract in 2018 for an additional 8s44p battery, tailored to incorporate alternate cell chemistry. ABSL™ Li-ion batteries were selected for this mission due to their stringent design and structural and thermal performance to deliver long life, quality and reliability that successful space missions demand.
“EnerSys is pleased to play such an influential role in the success of the James Webb Space Telescope project,” said Mark Matthews, EnerSys Senior Vice President, Specialty – Global. “It has been almost ten years since EnerSys was awarded the contract for these batteries to power this mission and our journey began with Webb. We are beyond excited to be part of a mission of this magnitude and to see it launch successfully.”
Webb will travel approximately 930,000 miles (1.5 million km) from Earth, toward the relatively gravitationally stable Earth-Sun Lagrange Point 2 and will study every phase of cosmic history from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe.