TakeMe2Space's PowerBank-50 becomes first India-made satellite battery

The made-in-India satellite battery-powered an experimental payload at an altitude of 450 km, validating its performance through launch and harsh orbital conditions

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

 

The battery pack has successfully completed its first mission aboard Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 on its maiden flight-- Mission ‘Aagaman’-- launched on July 18.

 

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. Riding on that historic flight, a single PowerBank-50 unit powered Cosmoserve Space’s experimental payload on the launch vehicle’s Orbital Adjustment Module (OAM) at an altitude of 450km, performing exactly as designed through the tumult of launch and the vacuum, radiation, and temperature swings of space.

 

“Every satellite mission lives or dies by its power system, which is why nobody wants to be the first to fly a new battery. We are grateful that Cosmoserve trusted PowerBank-50 on a mission of this significance. Flying on the first private Indian rocket to reach orbit, and performing flawlessly at 450 km, is the strongest validation a product can earn. PowerBank-50 is now space proven, made in India, and ready for every satellite builder in the world,” said Ronak Kumar Samantray, founder and chief executive officer, TakeMe2Space.  

 

Why ‘flight heritage’ matters

 

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. PowerBank-50 has now broken through that barrier.

 

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. On this mission, PowerBank-50 validated its entire chain in the real environment: its high energy density lithium ion cells, its intelligent battery management system, its cell heaters and its aluminium flight enclosure. The product has moved from qualified on the ground to proven in orbit, the highest level of technology readiness.

 

For India’s fast-growing small satellite ecosystem, this milestone means builders no longer need to depend on imported, long lead time battery packs to de-risk their missions. A flight proven power system is now designed, built and available off the shelf in India.

 

What’s new about PowerBank-50

 

PowerBank-50 packs more than 50 Watt Hour (Wh) of energy storage into a unit the size of a paperback and the weight of a smartphone, at 380 grams. It uses cells boasting the highest energy density available for small satellites, carries its own onboard intelligence that manages, balances and reports the health of the battery to operators on the ground, and keeps itself warm through the extreme cold of orbit. Packs can be stacked to power anything from a CubeSat to a microsatellite, with a mission life of up to 5 years in low-earth orbit.

 

Most importantly, it is available off the shelf at ₹104,900, a fraction of the cost of comparable imported packs. Now, any satellite builder can buy a flight proven, made in India power system without long import lead times. 

 

TakeMe2Space is building next-generation orbital infrastructure focused on in-space computing, data processing, and orbital data centres. Through its constellation and space-based computing platforms, the company is developing technologies that enable data to be processed,

 

analysed, and distributed directly into the orbit.

 

What this means for everyday life

 

Satellites quietly run much of daily life. The weather forecast before a farmer sows a crop, the maps that guide a delivery rider, cyclone warnings on the coast, television broadcasts and crop and water surveys all depend on satellites working round the clock. And every satellite has the same weakness: for a large part of every orbit it passes through earth’s shadow, where its solar panels go dark. In those minutes, the battery alone keeps the satellite alive. If the battery fails, the satellite dies.

 

Until now, Indian satellite builders mostly had to import this critical component at high cost and long waiting times. A proven, affordable battery made in India lowers the cost of building satellites, which means more Indian startups, universities and students can put satellites in orbit. More satellites mean better forecasts, sharper disaster warnings, smarter farming and wider connectivity, built in India, for India and the world.

 

PowerBank-50 packs a punch

 

1)   Uses cells boasting the highest energy density available for small satellites

 

2)   Carries its own onboard intelligence

 

3)   Keeps itself warm through the extreme cold of orbit

 

4)   Can be stacked to power anything from a CubeSat to a microsatellite

 

5)   Available off the shelf at ₹104,900, a fraction of the cost of comparable imported packs