Engineers at MicroSat Systems Inc. (MSI) in Littleton, Colo., required a power source for the company’s high-performance microsatellites and spacecraft subsystems for military and government applications. They found the needed solution at Saft America Inc., a provider of high-performance lithium-ion (Li-ion) technology for space applications in Cockeysville, Md.

MicroSat Systems managers awarded Saft an 18-satellite contract, which marks the largest single order for microsatellite batteries. According to the contract, Saft will provide rechargeable Li-ion batteries for 18 satellites that MicroSat engineers are building for ORBCOMM’s Generation 2 (OG2) constellation program.

The OG2 satellites will be based on the same design that MSI engineers develop-ed for NASA’s TacSat-2 satellite, a modular, reliable bus capable of accommodating a large payload. Each OG2 satellite will carry an enhanced communications payload designed to increase subscriber capacity by up to 12 times more than the current ORBCOMM satellites, enabling customers to transmit more data at greater speeds, reveals a representative. For more information, visit Saft America Inc. at www.saftbatteries.com.