TOKIO, 9 May 2024 – Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKIO: 6503) announced today that the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been awarded a contract to supply lithium-ion batteries for space use for Gateway, a space in lunar orbit. season.
Under the “Joint Exploration Declaration of Intent for Lunar Cooperation (JEDI)” signed on 10 July 2020 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States of America. , Japan agreed to provide batteries for the Gateway space station in the Artemis program for US lunar exploration.
Mitsubishi Electric, which manufactures high-performance lithium-ion batteries for space use that have received human-rated certification * to support the safe transportation of astronauts, was selected based on the advanced technologies that the company implemented in the development and manufacturing of the HTV-X. a new unmanned cargo transfer spacecraft, as well as the company's track record in supplying batteries for national and international commercial satellites and the proven reliability of said products.. This will be the third time that Mitsubishi Electric has provided space-grade lithium-ion batteries for the Artemis Program., including the Housing and Logistics Outpost (HALO) and the International Room Module (I-Hab).
In addition to the Artemis program in Japan, Mitsubishi Electric has also supplied lithium-ion battery cells to Maxar Space Systems in the United States for use in the power and propulsion element (PPE) del Gateway.
Mitsubishi Electric hopes to continue contributing to the Artemis Program by leveraging its established technologies for the manufacturing of power supply equipment for use in space..