City Labs to Develop Tritium Battery-Powered Satellite Imaging Sensors Under SpaceWERX Contract

SpaceWERX, the U.S. Space Force’s innovation arm housed within the Air Force Research Laboratory, has awarded Miami-headquartered battery and microelectronics company City Labs a $1.7 million Small Business Innovation Research Direct-to-Phase 2 award for imaging sensor delivery.

City Labs will create an autonomous, self-powered imaging sensor with onboard processing capabilities and wireless communications for satellites that operate in various temperatures. The sensors will be powered by City Labs’ Model P100 commercial tritium battery to ensure that the components will not draw power from the satellite to which the sensors are attached.

The sensors will look out for space debris and monitor satellite parameters, City Labs said Tuesday.

City Labs’ tritium batteries convert tritium beta decay into electricity for microelectronics devices. The solution provides over 20 years of energy without needing to be charged.

The batteries can be used for devices that serve homeland security, intelligence, satellite operations, defense and health missions.

The battery-powered sensors would allow the Space Force to install additional satellite capabilities without the need to re-engineer the whole vehicle.