Galileo Industries and the European Space Agency (ESA) selected Saft to provide its lithium-ion battery modules for the four satellites involved in the Galileo in-orbit validation phase, Saft announced June 8.

The battery cells will be manufactured in Bordeaux, France, and integrated and tested at Saft’s facility in Poitiers, France. The qualification and flight model batteries will be delivered to Alcatel Alenia Space, which is responsible for integrating the Galileo satellite, between November 2007 and April 2008.

Saft also supplied the Galileo program with batteries for the second Galileo pathfinder satellite in May 2005.