75 AH and 10 Boilerplate Nickel-Hydrogen Battery Designs and Test Results

The 75 Ah actively cooled bipolar battery continues to undergo LEO life testing at 40% DOD and to date has completed 13,000 cycles. The EOC and EOD voltages indicate that there is slight degradation in the overall battery performance. The primary influence in this decline is considered to be one cell's poor performance. The potential for extended cycle life capability of bipolar batteries has been demonstrated.

Ten 4-cell passively cooled bipolar batteries are on test at Space Systems/Loral (SS/L). Characterization testing has been completed. The results indicate that high capacity utilizations can be maintained at various discharge rates. Performance differences were noted and seem to be related to battery design variations. Further testing is planned.