Battery charge management for geosynchronous spacecraft
AssigneeSpace Systems/Loral, Inc.
InventorsAnthony Applewhite, Michel Lannes
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A spacecraft, configured to be operated in a geosynchronous orbit includes a power subsystem, including a battery, and a battery charge controller. The spacecraft is configured to have a power demand, during an eclipse season of the geosynchronous orbit, of ‘P’ kilowatts and the battery is sized to have a nominal capacity, measured in kilowatt-hours, smaller than 1.2*P/0.85. In some implementations, the battery has a rated charge voltage corresponding to the nominal capacity and the battery charge controller is configured to execute a battery charge management strategy that charges the battery to an above-rated charge voltage during selected portions of the eclipse season.
Claims17
A spacecraft comprising:
- a power subsystem, including a battery, the battery including a plurality of battery cells, and a battery charge controller, wherein
- the spacecraft is configured to be operated in a geosynchronous orbit;
- each cell has a respective energy capacity at a rated charge voltage;
- the spacecraft is configured to have a power demand, during an eclipse season of the geosynchronous orbit, of ‘P’ kilowatts and the battery is sized to have a nominal capacity measured in kilowatt-hours, smaller than 1.2*P/0.85;
- and
- the battery charge controller is configured to execute a battery charge management strategy, during the eclipse season, that charges the battery cells to an above-rated charge voltage, higher than the rated charge voltage, during selected portions of the eclipse season.
A method, comprising:
- operating a spacecraft in a geosynchronous orbit, the spacecraft comprising a power subsystem, the power subsystem including a battery, the battery including a plurality of battery cells, and a battery charge controller;
- and
- executing a battery charge management strategy for controlling a state of charge of the battery;
- wherein:
- each cell has a respective energy capacity at a rated charge voltage;
- the spacecraft is configured to have a power demand, during an eclipse season of the geosynchronous orbit, of ‘P’ kilowatts and the battery is sized to have a nominal capacity, at a rated charge voltage, measured in kilowatt-hours, smaller than 1.2*P/0.85;
- and
- the battery charge management strategy includes charging the battery cells to an above-rated charge voltage, higher than the rated charge voltage, during selected portions of the eclipse season.
A non-transitory computer readable medium having software stored thereon, the software including instructions for causing a battery charge controller to:
- execute a charge management strategy for controlling a state of charge of a battery the battery being included in a spacecraft operating in a geosynchronous orbit and including a plurality of battery cells;
- wherein:
- each cell has a respective energy capacity at a rated charge voltage;
- the spacecraft is configured to have a power demand, during an eclipse season of the geosynchronous orbit, of ‘P’ kilowatts and the battery is sized to have a nominal capacity, at a rated charge voltage, measured in kilowatt-hours, smaller than 1.2*P/0.85;
- and
- the battery charge management strategy includes charging the battery cells to an above-rated charge voltage, higher than the rated charge voltage, during selected portions of the eclipse season.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.