Internal Impedance of the Lithium-Ion Secondary Cells Used for Reimei Satellite after the Eleven Years Operation in Space

Abstract

The lithium-ion secondary batteries have been widely used for the space programs, today. Among them, REIMEI was one of the first satellites using lithium-ion secondary battery. In 2005, the satellite was launched, and injected into the low earth polar orbit. Eleven years has passed since the launch and over 60,000 cycles of charge and discharge was experienced in space. The lithium-ion secondary cell of the REIMEI battery was designed using spinel manganese oxide type material for the positive electrode, and the graphitized type carbon for the negative electrode. The cell case was made of aluminium laminated film and the structure was reinforced by the epoxy resin and aluminium housing. After the operation of eleven years, the cells still maintain the appropriate uniform balance and operative. In order to identify the internal condition of the battery/cell, we calculated the ac impedance by the pulse duration to the on-board battery.