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Batteries are used on spacecraft as a means of power storage. Primary batteries contain all their usable energy when assembled and can only be discharged. Secondary batteries can be recharged from some other energy source, such as solar panels or radioisotope-based power ( RTG), and can deliver power during periods when the space vehicle is out of direct sunlight. Batteries generate electrical current from a chemical reaction.
Batteries for spacecraft must be sealed to operate in vacuum. They must withstand the acceleration of launch, and vibration while attaining orbit. They must be able to operate over a wide temperature range, and must not emit gases that would corrode the space vehicle, disturb its trajectory, or contaminate instruments or life support systems. Batteries for vehicles orbiting the Earth must also resist the high 
Primary batteries are used for relatively short-duration tasks. Early satellites had design lives of only a few weeks or months, and could carry enough primary batteries to provide the required service life. Longer-duration tasks require a rechargeable system, where solar cells or a radioisotope generator can provide energy to recharge the battery. A satellite near the Earth will be shadowed for half of each orbit, and so requires batteries
to maintain operation. Even satellites in a
Planetary Landers and Entry Probes
Spacecraft components Battery applications {{space-stub
Batteries are used on spacecraft as a means of power storage. Primary batteries contain all their usable energy when assembled and can only be discharged. Secondary batteries can be recharged from some other energy source, such as solar panels or radioisotope-based power ( RTG), and can deliver power during periods when the space vehicle is out of direct sunlight. Batteries generate electrical current from a chemical reaction.
Batteries for spacecraft must be sealed to operate in vacuum. They must withstand the acceleration of launch, and vibration while attaining orbit. They must be able to operate over a wide temperature range, and must not emit gases that would corrode the space vehicle, disturb its trajectory, or contaminate instruments or life support systems. Batteries for vehicles orbiting the Earth must also resist the high ionizing radiation
Ionizing radiation (or ionising radiation), including nuclear radiation, consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that have sufficient energy to ionize atoms or molecules by detaching electrons from them. Some particles can travel ...
level above the shield of the Earth's atmosphere. Artificial satellites, such as communication satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. C ...
s, require battery systems that can withstand thousands of charge and discharge cycles over the satellite's intended life.
Primary batteries are used for relatively short-duration tasks. Early satellites had design lives of only a few weeks or months, and could carry enough primary batteries to provide the required service life. Longer-duration tasks require a rechargeable system, where solar cells or a radioisotope generator can provide energy to recharge the battery. A satellite near the Earth will be shadowed for half of each orbit, and so requires batteries
to maintain operation. Even satellites in a geosynchronous orbit
A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbital ...
experience regular "eclipse periods" of varying duration. Vehicles such as the Apollo spacecraft
The Apollo spacecraft was composed of three parts designed to accomplish the American Apollo program's goal of landing astronauts on the Moon by the end of the 1960s and returning them safely to Earth. The expendable (single-use) spacecraft ...
and the Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
required more power than could be supplied by batteries or solar panels, and so relied on hydrogen fuel cell
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requ ...
s to provide several kilowatts of power for hundreds of hours.
A reserve battery A reserve battery, also called stand-by battery, is a primary battery where part is isolated until the battery needs to be used. When long storage is required, reserve batteries are often used, since the active chemicals of the cell are segregated ...
is a primary battery that keeps its chemical reactants separated until needed. This improves the standby life of the battery, since side reactions cannot occur if the electrolyte and electrodes are separated. In another form, the electrolyte is heated to become conductive during operation. Such batteries may have short service lives, but are very reliable after extended storage. They are used in missiles that have long standby time, or in space probes that require power during landing on a planet.
The table below lists common battery types used in space.
See also
*List of spacecraft powered by non-rechargeable batteries
This is a list of spacecraft powered by non-rechargeable batteries. While most spacecraft are powered by longer-lasting power sources such as solar cells or radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which can provide power for years to decades, some ...
* Solar panels on spacecraft
Spacecraft operating in the inner Solar System usually rely on the use of power electronics-managed photovoltaic solar panels to derive electricity from sunlight. Outside the orbit of Jupiter, solar radiation is too weak to produce sufficient pow ...
* Nuclear power in space
Nuclear power in space is the use of nuclear power in outer space, typically either small fission systems or radioactive decay for electricity or heat. Another use is for scientific observation, as in a Mössbauer spectrometer. The most common ...
References
External links
Planetary Landers and Entry Probes
Spacecraft components Battery applications {{space-stub