PowerBank-50

PowerBank-50 Latest News

Hyderabad-based space startup TakeMe2Space recently announced that its PowerBank-50 satellite battery pack has now earned the ‘flight heritage’ tag.

About PowerBank-50

• It is an indigenously built satellite battery pack developed by Hyderabad-based spacetech startup TakeMe2Space.
• It is India’s first indigenously developed satellite battery to earn the coveted ‘flight heritage’ status. 
• The recognition comes after the battery pack has successfully completed its first mission aboard Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 on its maiden flight — Mission ‘Aagaman’.
  • Vikram-1 became the first privately developed Indian rocket to reach orbit, making India only the third country in the world, after the United States and China, where a private company has achieved orbital launch capability. 
• A PowerBank-50 unit powered Cosmoserve Space’s experimental payload aboard the rocket’s Orbital Adjustment Module (OAM) at an altitude of 450 km. 
• The battery performed as designed throughout launch and in the harsh conditions of space, including vacuum, radiation, and extreme temperature fluctuations. 

‹ ›

PowerBank-50 Features

• It is a compact lithium-ion battery pack designed specifically for small satellites. 
• Weighing just 380 grams and roughly the size of a paperback book, it stores over 50 Wh of energy and is equipped with an intelligent battery management system, onboard heaters, and an aluminium flight enclosure. 
• Multiple PowerBank-50 units can be stacked together to power CubeSats and microsatellites, with an operational life of up to five years in low-Earth orbit. 

Why ‘Flight Heritage’ Matter?

• In the satellite industry, ‘flight heritage’ is the hardest credential to earn. 
• Satellite builders, launch providers, and insurers are deeply reluctant to fly components that have never flown, because a single subsystem failure can end a multi-crore mission. 
• This creates a well-known barrier for new suppliers: you cannot get ‘heritage’ without flying, and you cannot fly without that tag. 
• The bar is highest of all for batteries that are among the most safety scrutinised components on any rocket. 
• Batteries must survive intense launch vibration and shock, then operate reliably in vacuum through extreme hot and cold cycles every orbit.

News: TOI