The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully tested a 100W class PEM hydrogen fuel cell power system in its orbital platform onboard the PSLV-C58 vehicle, launched on Monday (January 1).
PSLV-C58 launched the XPOSAT Satellite into low inclination orbit to carry out research in space-based polarisation measurements of X-ray emissions from celestial sources.
Onboard, the PEM fuel cell was shortly tested in the POEM3 orbital platform, producing 180W of power from hydrogen and oxygen.
The objective of the test was to assess PEM fuel cell operation in space and to collect data to facilitate the design of systems for future missions, ISRO said.
ISRO said fuel cells’ ability to produce electricity directly from fuels without “any intermediate steps” with the only by-product being water make them “ideal candidates” for space missions involving humans.
Fuel cells have a long history of use in space flight. A 2003 NASA paper wrote, “NASA has used fuel cells instead of primary batteries for energy storage on almost all manned missions. Manned missions have required primary energy storage with long discharge times and generally higher power levels than unmanned missions.”
Speaking to H2 View in 2021, Adam Swanger, Principal Investigator at the Cryogenics Test Laboratory, NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre, said, “Fuel cells are one of the crucial technologies that’s driving this entire hydrogen enterprise.”
The signature fuel of the American space programme: NASA shares why hydrogen plays such a vital role in its missions
© NASA
It was exactly a decade ago that NASA’s Space Shuttle touched down for the final time in the US, signalling the end of one of the most successful space programmes in history. A ship like no other, the space shuttle launched like a rocket and landed back on Earth like a glider, transporting astronauts to space and back for 30 years.
The world’s first reusable spacecraft was comprised of four elements – the shuttle itself, also known as the orbiter, plus a pair of solid rocket boosters and a single external fuel tank. Perhaps most recognisable was the external tank, the familiar orange structure that dominates most images of the shuttle at liftoff. At more than 15-stories tall, it was the largest part of the shuttle stack.
Getting its signature orange colour from the foam insulation sprayed on the tank’s aluminium structure to keep the super cold propellants from evaporating too quickly and ice from building up on the outside, the tank’s main job was to supply around 535,000 gallons of super cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to the shuttle’s three main engines. Hydrogen and oxygen are one of the highest performance propellant combinations, and NASA’s use of it dates back even further than the Space Shuttle programme…
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