Cycle-life testing of large-capacity lithium-ion cells in simulated satellite operation

We are conducting cycle-life testing of 10–100 Ah-class lithium-ion cells in a simulated satellite operation at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). This paper reviews the latest test results of these lithium-ion cells. Thus far, we have verified impressive life performance exceeding 30,000 cycles in a simulated low-earth-orbit (LEO) mode and 1800 cycles in a simulated geostationary-earth-orbit (GEO) mode for some of these cells. We optimized the thickness of the electrode layer to suppress cell-internal impedance and found that a lithium-ion cell with a thin electrode layer exhibited promising cycling performance in a simulated LEO operation. Since the electrode material is an important factor affecting the charge–discharge behavior of a lithium-ion cell, we also compared the cycling performance of lithium-ion cells with different cathode materials.